The Guardian of Camelot
by SH4D3YM
Summary: Merlin gets pushed too far by Arthur and leaves. His absence from Camelot was not permanent as he goes back after seven years of learning how to use his magic. When he gets back, Merlin sees how Morgana has almost crushed Camelot to nothing. So Merlin decides to be Camelot's secret guardian. Warning: Minor Gore
1. Leaving

Merlin hears the door to his cell open behind but he doesn't turn around. Merlin had been accused of using magic for the hundredth time and spent three days in the cell. Or so people think that he stayed there for the full three days, but Merlin escaped for a few hours a day to clear his name. Gaius had found the person that really used magic, in reality he pointed out Merlin's old self, and the sorcerer fled. Now here Merlin was. Tired, relieved, and most of all angry.

Merlin had been thrown in the cells many times. One for trying to hit Arthur, once Aredian had tried to throw him in the cells and almost succeeded, another time Guinevere had framed him because she was being controlled by Morgana. But this was the last time Merlin would stand to be treated like a prisoner.

"Merlin." Arthur says his name to get his attention when Merlin doesn't face him. Merlin turned and walked out of his cell without so much as looking in Arthur's direction.

"Merlin." Arthur called after him. Merlin still doesn't look at him.

"Merlin."

" _Mer_ lin."

"Merlin!" Arthur grabbed Merlin's arm after three times of just saying his name.

Merlin turned around willingly but did not look Arthur in the eye. Instead Merlin was looking at Arthur's red tunic. Arthur grabbed Merlin's head to try to get Merlin to look at him. Merlin struggled but eventually gave up and was looking at Arthur.

"What is wrong with you?" Arthur asks.

"Just because I'm not constantly basking in your glory that means something is wrong with me?" Merlin asked with his rage in his voice.

Arthur lightly hit the top of Merlin's head. "You will not speak to me like that ever again. Understand?"

Merlin's breathing sped up from his anger. "How many times have I saved your life?"

"Three times." Arthur said.

You have no idea how wrong you are, Merlin thought to himself. "How many times have I saved your father's life?"

"Once."

Again, you have no idea how wrong you are, Merlin thought. "How many times have a proven my loyalty to you, your father, Camelot, and… the war against magic?"

Merlin could barely get the last part out because of how much it hurt him. Arthur looked at the ground. "You have proven your loyalty more times than I can remember."

"Yeah." Merlin said. "So explain to me why you and your father and anyone would believe that I would try to use magic to hurt Camelot. I could easily poison you, which would hurt Camelot, but I don't. But I still get thrown in the dungeons every time there is a possible sorcerer."

"Not _every_ time. Gwen was once." Arthur argued then folded his arms. "I apologize for everything that you have been wrongly accused of. But what's your reason for asking these pointless questions? Why bring this up now?"

Merlin waited for a second trying to think of something to say. He realized why he wanted to say all this when he remembered the day he first arrived in Camelot. Merlin sighed, "This will be the last time this happens Arthur. I'm leaving Camelot. Tonight."

Merlin turned around and walked away from Arthur. A second later Arthur called after him, "You can't just leave. What about Gaius? What about Guinevere? What about the Gwaine? What about me?"

Merlin didn't answer, he just kept on walking until he was out of the dungeons. During the entire walk he realized how long he has been wanting to leave Camelot. So, despite Arthur's yelling, Merlin didn't look back once.

Merlin packed all of his clothes into a bag to leave in an hour or two. Gaius stood at his door, staring at him without saying a word. Merlin put his last shirt in the bag and turned to Gaius. For the first time since meeting Gaius, Merlin was completely angry with him.

"What are you waiting for?!" Merlin shouted. Gaius didn't not even flinch or look hurt. He just continued to stare, which just made Merlin angrier. "Are you going to tell me how I'm stupid for leaving when my destiny says that I need to stay? Are you going to tell me of a place to stay instead of Ealdor? Are you going to tell me that it's a mistake that I have magic? What are you _waiting_ for?"

Gaius did not look offended at all, but he did walk up to Merlin and hugged him. When he parted he said, "Be careful Merlin."

"I'm just going back to Ealdor." Merlin says in a calm voice.

"Don't go back to Ealdor." Gaius says. "This is your time to explore the world. Go to places that will let you use magic freely, get another job, find someone to share your life with. Just don't waste the time you have constantly in one place. I have already made that mistake and I can never leave Camelot until the day I die. Not that I'm not complaining."

Gaius walked out of Merlin's room and started work on a medicine of some kind. Merlin was only able to stand there and think on the words that Gaius had just said. Merlin decided that Gaius was right and packed the rest of his belongings and magically created a map off all the villages and towns in all of the kingdoms. Merlin decided that he would stay at a village in Anis' kingdom. He put his pack over his shoulder and walked out of his room, out of Gaius chambers and into the streets of Camelot for what might be the last time.

Arthur watched from a balcony as Merlin walked towards the gates of Camelot. Arthur sighed from the pain of losing a close friend. He felt a hand be placed on his shoulder and turned to see Guinevere, smiling at him.

"I know watching Merlin go is hard Arthur. But I get the feeling that we will see him again someday."

Arthur smiled back. "I get the feeling that you are right."

Arthur grabbed her hand and pulled her to stand next to him, overlooking the kingdom. Merlin was the main thing that they both focused on from the view. Arthur sighed again, but still managed to smile.


	2. Merlin Returns

**7 Years Later**

Merlin rode on his horse towards Camelot. It has been many years since he has been this close to Camelot. Everything about the forest and layout of the land came flooding back to him. The memories of hunting with Arthur, riding to go on a quest, everything came back to him.

Merlin went to the far north, magic was practiced there. Uther could never get there because of the perilous landscape. It was in the north that Merlin was the most, moving from village to village. The north was also filled with people who didn't know magic, but still accepted it as a part of their life. One of those normal people taught Merlin how to fight without magic, with any kind of weapon and his hands.

Merlin was angry with Uther and Arthur for six years until he had learned to meditate. He looked into the other world and learned how to forget about his past and move forward. Only then was Merlin able to truly accept his magic for what it was. It was not a curse. It was not a gift. It was a part of him and nothing more. Now Merlin was going back to Camelot to fulfill the destiny that he had tried to live six years of his life forgetting.

Merlin arrives at Camelot in an hour and ties his horse in the public stables. Walking towards the citadel, Merlin observes the changes that have been made in Camelot. Merlin frowned when he didn't recognize the lifelessness of the streets, and the absence of guards. He especially didn't recognize the gaping hole in the east wall.

Merlin stared at the ghost town in front of him before he heard a twig snap to his left. He barely had enough time to turn before a bag was shoved onto his head and a fist connected with his stomach. Merlin fell to his knees and someone else ran behind him and tied his hands with a piece of rope.

Merlin sensed another fist come towards him from the person that punched him the first time. Merlin kicked the person behind him that had put the bindings on his wrist and rolled to the side. The person that had tried to punch Merlin ended up punching the person that Merlin kicked. A grunt came from the man that got punched and Merlin had two seconds before the next attack came.

In those two seconds Merlin analyzed the situation he was in as best as he could with the bag over his head. There were three people attacking him, all men, one had put the bag on his head, another punched him, and the last tied his hands. Merlin could easily use most of his senses to see, but he could not directly attack well enough with his hands tied. He would have to get them to attack each other and kick whenever he could.

The attack that was coming towards him now was coming from the biggest and strongest man of the three. It was a punch aimed at Merlin's shoulder. Merlin waited until the man's fist was an inch away from his shoulder before ducking. When Merlin ducked, the man walked past merlin by a few inches and Merlin spun around and kicked the man in the back which sent him into another one of the men.

The smallest man, the one that was still standing, was now all that was a threat to Merlin. The man took out a sword and ran at Merlin. The man lashed a hand at Merlin, but Merlin used his magic to break free of his bindings and caught it. The man's other hand, the one with the sword in it, came at Merlin now. Merlin caught it but was surprised when he found out that neither hand had a sword. Merlin did not realize that one of the men that he had knocked down had gotten back up until the hilt of a sword collided with his back.

Merlin fell to the ground and rolled over before two men jumped on top of him, the smallest and the biggest. The medium sized man walked over to his head. Merlin felt a hand grab the bag and pull it off his face. At first, Merlin blinked a couple of times from the sun, but when his eyes focused he saw the man that had taken his bag off and his eyes widened.

"Leon!" Merlin smiled then turned to the men holding him down. "Percival! Gwaine!"

"Merlin?" Leon asked.

Percival and Gwaine got off of him and stood next to Leon to see if he was telling the truth or not. Gwaine smiled when he realized Merlin was telling the truth, "It looks like someone's been practicing his fighting skills."

Percival helped Merlin up from the ground. Merlin looked around at Camelot then back at the knights. "What happened here?"

"Morgana." Leon said. "Her forces have been constantly harassing Camelot. It started about a year after you left."

"That's why we attacked you." Gwaine said. "We can't be too careful in times like these. But since you don't have magic, we know that you are not part of her army."

"Why haven't you repaired things?" Merlin asked.

"We are in a time of war." Percival says. "Everyone is too scared to leave there homes because we get attacked almost every day. And we can't keep Morgana's forces away from Camelot because we have too few soldiers to go out and fight in their home. We can't get more soldiers because the soldiers that we _do_ have are constantly fighting and don't have time to train new recruits."

Merlin sighed when he heard this. He knew that this was all his fault. Merlin's magic was the only thing holding Morgana away from Camelot. At least she hadn't completely taken over the kingdom, but that was probably just plain luck.

"I should have been here to help." Merlin says out loud.

"Merlin, this was not your fault. There was nothing anyone could do to stop Morgana from attacking Camelot." Leon says. "We are just thankful that King Arthur hasn't died yet."

" _King_ Arthur?" Merlin asks.

"Yes," Percival says. "Uther died after two years of fighting with Morgana's forces. An assassin somehow broke through the guard post."

Merlin never wished so much in his entire life to go back in time. Merlin sighs again, "Sounds like Camelot needs a miracle to save it."

"No." Gwaine says. "Merlin, my friend, what Camelot needs right now is a guardian."


	3. A Helping Hand

The three knights lead Merlin into the castle, Merlin had been handed a sword to help them protect the group. Once inside the castle, the knights run up the stairs to their left, Merlin followed behind them, confused because he had never seen a knight of Camelot move through the town so fast. That was how Merlin knew that Morgana really had become a problem. No knight of Camelot has ever been afraid like this before.

"Where are we going?" Merlin asks.

"To Arthur." Gwaine says. "He and Queen Guinevere will want to see you, as well as Gaius."

"We would like to tell them as quick as possible." Percival says. "It's almost night and that is when Morgana's army attacks every time."

"We should also try to convince them to let you fight when we are being attacked." Leon says. "Right now, we need men with your skill in fighting."

Merlin nodded and continued to follow them up the stairs. Merlin looked around trying to remember everything about the castle again. That was a battle habit that Merlin had gotten used to. He did not trust any building that he did not know every inch of and unfortunately he has forgotten about the castle, not that Merlin knew every inch of the castle _before_ he left.

Merlin did, however, completely remember the hall that they were in right now. It was the hall that led to the council room where Merlin assumed was where Arthur and Guinevere were. Percival opened the doors to the throne room, and Merlin is surprised when he sees the big round table in the center of the room. Around the table are about thirty knights, a few common people, and at the side farthest away from Merlin is Arthur, Guinevere, Gaius, and Elyan. There are only about forty people sitting at the table when the table looks like it can seat eighty people.

When the doors open, all of the knights quickly turn around, their hands going to their swords. They stop when they see that the people that opened the doors were other knights and a man they did not know, or remember. Arthur stands up when he sees that his knights have left their post as guards to protect from strangers to Camelot.

"Sirs Leon, Percival, Gwaine. What are the three of you doing here?" Arthur asks. "I hope you know that I could throw you in the cells for leaving your posts."

"Sire," Sir Leon begins. "We have found someone I think you-"

"Merlin!" Guinevere says and gets up from her seat to run over to Merlin. Gaius follows his queen and Merlin drops the bag that was on his shoulder, which was carrying all of his belongings, and walks over to them and meets them in the middle. Guinevere hugs Merlin first and then Gaius.

Arthur watched his wife and Court Physician hug the man that they thought to be his old manservant. Arthur looked closer at the man and saw the deep shade of blue in the man's eyes, the pasty white skin, the black hair, and the goofy grin. The man _was_ Merlin. Arthur stared at his old friend, not sure what to think. Should Arthur be angry for him leaving, happy for his return, or pretend not to care?

"It's so good to see you, my boy." Gaius said when he parted from Merlin.

"Where have you been Merlin?" Gwen asked.

"Just travelling around." Merlin decided to shorten his place of living for the past few years. "I stayed in the same area though."

"Good." Gwen said. "I can't wait to hear all about your adventures in the past seven years-"

"Yes," Arthur interrupts. "We would all love to listen to Merlin's bedtime stories, but we were in the middle of a meeting. If you have forgotten, we are at war. Now let's get back to discussing how to defend ourselves. Gaius you can take Merlin to your quarters if you wish, or you can stay."

"I will help Merlin with his belongings." Gaius says.

"Very well." Arthur says. He takes his seat again and turns to Percival, Leon, and Gwaine. "You three should go back to your posts."

"Yes sire." Sir Leon says. He and the other two knights leave to go back outside. "But before we leave we would like to tell you that Merlin-"

Leon is cut off from finishing his sentence when a loud rumble goes across the land. A horn is sounded outside the kingdom and the warning bell sounds. It sounds a lot louder and faster than Merlin remembers, but that could just be his mind. All the knights stood up and unsheathed their swords before running out of the council room.

"What's going on?" Merlin asks.

"Morgana's army is attacking." Gaius says.

"Merlin." Arthur says running towards the doors to go fight. "Get everyone here into the inner chamber. Now!"

Merlin was surprised for a second that Arthur still trusted him enough to protect Gwen. Arthur ran out the doors with his sword raised to show that he is ready to fight. The people, Gwen, and Gaius turned to Merlin. Waiting for him to follow the king's orders and take them into the inner chamber.

Merlin started walking in the opposite direction of Arthur and the knights, instantly remembering the path to the inner chamber. Gaius and Gwen were next to him the entire way to the inner chamber, the common people a little further behind them.

"What's happened, Gaius?" Merlin asked. "Camelot may be under attack, but I have never seen the knights like they are now. They're scared and anxious to fight at the same time."

"They are not anxious to fight." Gaius answers him. "They are anxious to protect Camelot and her people."

"Either way, this needs to stop." Merlin says.

The doors to the inner chamber are in sight when Gaius stops Merlin. "Gwen, could you give Merlin and me a moment."

"Of course, Gaius." Gwen said then turned to her subjects. "Let us continue."

Gaius turns back to Merlin after Gwen and the people go into the inner chamber, "We will take the people from here. You go help Arthur."

Merlin smiles, and hands the sword that Percival gave him to Gaius, "Thank you. I'll see you soon."

Merlin runs in the opposite direction to Gaius' chambers. Once there, Merlin drops the bag on his back on the ground and digs through it until he finds his real sword. It was a sword like Arthur's, forged in the dragon's breath. However, Merlin's blade was darker, almost pure black, because not only did he forge it in Kilgharrah's, but in Aithusa's breath as well. It took a long time but Merlin did eventually make Aithusa see the error in his ways for saving Morgana. Forged by the breath of two dragons, it was the most powerful sword ever created, not even Kilgharrah knew of its power.

After Merlin took the blade out of his pack, he put the blade on the table and looked for the other thing he was looking for. A black tunic with a hood, black trousers, a black piece of cloth to wrap around the bottom of his mouth, black shoes, and a black belt that could hold his sword. Merlin changed into these things quickly, sheathing his sword, then he ran out of Gaius' chambers.

Merlin took a secret way out of the castle and summoned Kilgharrah and Aithusa when he was far away from the castle for no one to see. The dark night sky helped the two dragons not be seen when they got to Merlin a minute after being called. Kilgharrah stood tall in front of Merlin, Aithusa was lowering her head, most likely from fear of having to kill Morgana. Merlin might have got Aithusa to see that Morgana was evil, but Aithusa still loved Morgana like she was her mother. Merlin felt a ping of jealousy. He was the one that summoned Aithusa to this world and gave her the name Aithusa. If Merlin's and Kilgharrah's souls were brothers, then Merlin's must be Aithusa's soul's father.

Kilgharrah looks around and takes a deep breath. "It has been many years since we have been this close to Camelot."

"I need your help to weaken Morgana's defenses and stop the attack on Camelot." Merlin says.

"We will follow you into this battle Merlin," Kilgharrah says. "But be warned, we cannot enter this war. We cannot let neither me nor Aithusa die. It would be the definite end to our breed."

"All I need is time to get Camelot rebuilt." Merlin says. "Camelot winning this night might ensure that."

"Very well." Kilgharrah says. He bends his neck and Merlin climbs on, gripping onto a spike on Kilgharrah's back. When Merlin was safely on the dragon's back, Kilgharrah straightened his body. "May this night bring about the end to Morgana's evil."

* * *

Kilgharrah flew through the air, and flew over Camelot from the South. The fight was taking place in the North. Aithusa flew next to Kilgharrah's tail and Merlin did not know anymore what she might be thinking. When Merlin turned away from Kilgharrah, he could see the battle field and knew from that moment that the only reason that Camelot had not completely fallen yet is because Morgana had _allowed_ it to remain alive. The thirty or so knights were barely managing to keep out the thousands of Morgana's soldiers.

" _Attack!"_ Merlin shouted at Kilgharrah and Aithusa.

Immediately after he said it, Merlin realized that he had said 'attack' in the language of the dragons. Kilgharrah and Aithusa positioned themselves so that they were in the air but only hovering and not moving. A column of fire came from both dragons' mouths and the flames hit Morgana's army. Screams come from the invading forces and they start retreating, none of them escaping the flames. The dragons stopped attacking and Kilgharrah went close to the ground so Merlin could jump off to help get rid of the remaining enemies.

Merlin was fighting a man when he kicked the man into a jet of fire coming from Aithusa. The man screamed as he fell to the ground burning to death. Merlin turned and barely got out of the way of another enemy's sword came towards his head. Merlin ducked and jabbed upwards, piercing the man through the heart. Merlin fought for what felt like an hour with Aithusa and Kilgharrah, sometimes using his sword, other times he used his magic.

When every last one of Morgana's knights were dead, Merlin turned to the knights of Camelot. The dragons landed next to him while Merlin was sheathing his sword. The Camelot knights knew that a sorcerer had just saved them with his two dragons, and they all looked skeptical. Arthur, who was in the front of the knights, gathered up the courage to walk over to Merlin.

Arthur held out his hand to Merlin. "My name is Arthur Pendragon, I am the King of Camelot. I thank you for saving us."

Merlin took Arthur's hand and shook it. Merlin used a spell to hide his voice, the spell didn't change his voice it just amplified it so that Arthur would be too busy taking in its power so that he would not recognize the voice. "Well King of Camelot, you are welcome. I see that this was not the first time you have been attacked. You should use the time that I have gotten you to rebuild your kingdom. From here on out you can call me your ally, I promise to protect your lands. I will be back to help whenever I can and I will always be watching over your lands."

Arthur was taken back by the mysterious man's promises, and the voice that he promised them in. Arthur was glad that he would have such a powerful ally, but disappointed that it would be an ally that was also a sorcerer. Arthur turned to see his knights staring at the man in front them in amazement and horror. He knew that his kingdom would be dead without the sorcerer so he made the smartest decision available.

Arthur turned to the man, "Alright, I see that you care for my kingdom. I will allow you to enter my kingdom without fear of being burned for having magic. May I ask who the savior of my kingdom is?"

"I cannot tell you that. I trust you but you most likely will not trust me." Merlin says still using the spell. "I must go now. I will be seeing you."

Merlin got back on Kilgharrah and he and the two dragons flew off. The knights of Camelot looked at the horizon as their savior and new protector left them standing there. It was at that moment that Arthur realized that not one of his knights had died. He wasn't worried about having to watch his friends die anymore, however. For he had just gained a Guardian of Camelot.


	4. New Position

Merlin ran back to Gaius' chambers and changed back into the clothes he was wearing when he arrived. The black clothes that he would wear only to save Camelot as the dragon riding sorcerer. Merlin bought those clothes to sneak around the castle to _secretly_ help Camelot with his magic from the shadows. Never did he think that they would mark him as a _noticed_ warrior that fights for Camelot and Camelot alone.

Merlin put the black clothes under a loos floor board. The same floor board that was used to hide the spell book Gaius gave Merlin. After arranging the book and the clothes to be able to be covered by the floor board, Merlin looked around for a spot to hide his sword. He settled with wrapping it in a blanket and setting it under his bed. Merlin decided that everything was hidden well enough and left to go to the inner chamber.

Merlin took his pack with him, because he had it when Arthur and the knights left, and ran to the inner chamber. Merlin quietly slipped inside and found Gaius treating a man with an injured hand, and walked over to him. Gaius smiled when he saw Merlin standing there.

"Good, you're here. I need you to grab those bandages right there." Gaius says pointing.

Merlin smiled and walked over to the bandages Gaius pointed at, knowing that what Gaius said really meant was, _Good job, I'm proud of you._ Merlin started to help Gaius dress the man's hand and didn't even notice when Arthur and the knights walked inside. Not until Gwaine started shouting, "Victory for Camelot!"

Everyone in the inner started chanting and shouting, "Victory for Camelot! Victory for Camelot!"

Merlin smiled, but did not join in the cheering and shouting, and turned back to continue treating the man's cut. Arthur saw this and put his hand up to stop the shouting. When everyone was quiet, Arthur started to explain the events that took place on the battle ground.

"People of Camelot, we have won a great battle today. A battle that we could not have won if it was not for one individual. A sorcerer that rode on a dragon with another smaller dragon next to him. I have never seen a warrior so skilled with a sword or with magic as powerful as this sorcerer had. He has told me that he will help protect Camelot and all of her citizens." Arthur says. A lot of people look at Arthur with glares, most likely because he trusted a sorcerer. "I know that Camelot's views on sorcery call it an evil thing, and I know that some of you wish that I killed the sorcerer, but I could not do it if I wanted to. This sorcerer could have killed me and all of the knights of Camelot if he wanted to. He could have taken over Camelot himself. However, he did not do any of these things. Which is why I have chosen to trust this sorcerer. He has given us time to rebuild Camelot and gather more knights and warriors to fight for Camelot's survival."

Arthur finished his speech and the room is silent for a moment. Arthur does not know if the people think he has made the right decision, but he need their support on this. Arthur unsheathes his sword and raises it in the air. Arthur takes a deep breath and quickly gives the warrior a name, "To the Guardian of Camelot!"

There is pure silence. Merlin sees that Arthur is losing the people's support and makes a brash decision. Merlin shouts, "To the Guardian of Camelot!"

Everyone turns to Merlin, Arthur smiles at his loyalty and turns to the people who are still silent. Then Sir Leon raises his sword in the air, "To the Guardian of Camelot!"

Guinevere smiles, "To the Guardian of Camelot!"

"To the Guardian of Camelot!" Gaius says.

Percival and Gwaine raise their swords in the air, "To the Guardian of Camelot!"

"To the Guardian of Camelot!" An old man says.

The room is filled with noise again, but this time it's a different chant. "To the Guardian of Camelot!"

* * *

Merlin eats in Gaius' chambers, a smile still on his face from Arthur and the rest of Camelot chanting for him. Gaius still has the same look of proudness that he had in the inner chamber as well. The two don't say anything, they just eat their dinner in silence with happiness and pride from the victory that Camelot has just gotten.

Merlin finishes eating and washes his bowl before entering his room. He sits on the bed and pulls up the floor board that hides his black clothes and his spell book. He takes out the piece of fabric that hides the bottom portion of his face when he wears it. Merlin plays with the fabric in his hands, feeling every knit in the piece of fabric.

Gaius enters his room a minute later and sees the black fabric in his hands and sighs. Merlin moves over a little so Gaius can sit next to him on the bed. Just like while they were eating, they do not say anything.

Gaius breaks the silence after a while, "Arthur says that the rebuilding of Camelot begins at first light."

"Yeah," Merlin says. "And all those that want to be knights will start training tomorrow as well."

Gaius nods his head, "Camelot has changed since you left Merlin. At first, I thought it changed into a worse place, but now I see that it was a good change."

"How so?" Merlin asks.

"Because it brought out a better you." Gaius says. Gaius says nothing else and leaves Merlin's room.

Merlin is left sitting their wondering what Gaius could mean. Is Merlin better because he fights in public now? Because Merlin isn't as afraid to us his magic anymore? Merlin sighs and puts the piece of fabric back into the hiding spot and puts the wooden floor board back over it and the rest of his Guardian of Camelot suit. He looks under his bed to make sure that his sword is still hidden under his bed then he rests his head on his pillow and drifts off to sleep.

* * *

"The king demands your presence in his chambers at once." Leon tells Merlin.

Merlin and Gaius had gotten up early to see if their help was needed. They were eating when Leon entered the room and told him that Arthur wanted to see him. Merlin wasn't surprised, he knew that Arthur would summon him sooner or later.

Merlin wipes his mouth and says, "Okay, I'll be there in a second."

Leon nods and walks back outside. Merlin turns to Gaius, "I can't get a moment to myself anymore."

Gaius chuckles and Merlin gets up, taking his piece of bread with him, and leaves after Leon in the direction of Arthur's chambers. Merlin smiles at people he remembers, mostly other servants and staff of the castle, a few knights as well, of course. Finally, he gets to the door that separates Arthur's chambers from the rest of the castle. Merlin opens the door a few inches and walks inside.

Arthur is sitting at the table near his bed when Merlin walks inside. Arthur face is expressionless. No smile, nor scowl, just a blank stare. Merlin stands in front of Arthur, "You wanted to see me."

Arthur stares at Merlin with the same blank face. Then the corners of his lips turn upwards into a smile. Arthur stands up and walks around the table to Merlin and pulls him into a hug. Merlin is surprised for a second and doesn't move before he hugs Arthur back. Arthur pulls away and moves his hands to Merlin's shoulders.

"It's been many years old friend." Arthur says.

"Yes it has been." Merlin smiles.

Arthur takes his hands away from Merlin and walks back around to sit at the table again. "So where have you been staying?"

"Just traveling around." Merlin says. "I did spend a lot in the North though."

"I hope your travels were well spent." Arthur says.

"Oh they were, trust me." Merlin smiles.

"Good." Arthur says. "But there is something that I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"Your position in the royal house."

"I still have a position?"

"Yes, a different position, but still a position. And no, you do not have a choice of whether to accept it or not."

"Still as bossy as ever." Merlin smiles. "So what is this position?"

Arthur smiles, "From here on out Merlin, you will be the Master of the Horse."

Merlin looked at Arthur to see if he was serious. Arthur was indeed very serious. Merlin says, "Great, so I'm your horses' servant now?"

"Merlin, you don't have the same responsibilities as a servant anymore. You take care of the horses, every time an event occurs that need horses you deliver the horses, and make sure the stables are sturdy and clean. Nothing else." Arthur says.

Merlin is about to argue when Arthur stops him by saying, "You are also a member of the royal court, and you get your own private stables and a few horses of your own."

"Of all the things you would make me, I never thought it would be the Master of the Horse." Merlin says. "Not that I'm not honored."

"You better be honored because I remember telling you that you don't have a choice in accepting this or not. It's yours no matter what." Arthur says.

Merlin nods, "Alright. But whenever you need a horse to leave Camelot on, hunting trips, quests, or just traveling, I better be invited."

"Very well." Arthur says. "But you need to appoint someone to take your responsibilities when you are gone."

"I'll tell you who I have chosen later." Merlin says.

"Alright, you can leave now." Arthur says. Then his hands drift to Merlin's hands. "Is that bread?"

Merlin looks down and sees that he has not finished the bread that he was eating for breakfast. Merlin looks back up at Arthur, "Yes."

Arthur looks at Merlin like he's crazy. Merlin takes a bite of the bread, "Bye."

Merlin turns around and accidentally kicks a chair over. Arthur looks at the chair then at Merlin. Merlin gives an embarrassed smile and Arthur shakes his head saying, "Same old Merlin."

* * *

 **The Master of Horse thing was the only position that was very honorable and sounded hilarious. There was no real meaning to it, I just thought it would make things more interesting. Hope the story is still worth reading.**


	5. New Hiding Place

"Merlin! Come over and help me train the future knights of Camelot!" Gwaine calls to Merlin.

Merlin was walking out of the castle when he heard Gwaine call him from across the courtyard. Merlin walked over to Gwaine, there was a large group of men behind him, both noblemen and commoners. Gwaine turned to the men and put a hand on Merlin's shoulders.

"This is Merlin." Gwaine says. "He may be a servant, but-"

"Actually Arthur made me Master of the Horse." Merlin corrects him.

Gwaine looks at Merlin with a smile, Merlin can tell that the smile says that Gwaine believes him. Gwaine turns back to the men, "The Master of the Horse here is one of the best fighters I have seen in a long time. He nearly beat three knights of Camelot with a bag over his head and both hands tied behind his back."

Merlin smiles when Gwaine leaves out the fact that he was one of the knights that Merlin almost beat. Gwaine didn't seem to notice and continues, "We are not expecting you to be able to do that, at least not for many years of fighting. However, you will be expected to _seem_ fearless. I know that no one can truly be fearless, but as knights it is your job to make the people of Camelot feel safe. And they cannot feel safe if they see their knights and protectors trembling in fear."

The future knights seem to straighten at this and stand still. Merlin puts a hand on Gwaine's shoulder and whispers, "I think you're scaring them."

"It's part of the job." Gwaine chuckles. "We have to have some fun."

Merlin chuckles this time and lets Gwaine carry on with his speech. "Your training will take place over the next month and a half. We may be in a time of war, but we cannot fight with men that don't even know how to use a sword while sparring. The Guardian of Camelot has made sure that we get that time, otherwise we most likely would be rushing your training."

Merlin involuntarily straightens at the ' _Guardian of Camelot_ ' part, thankfully for him, no one seems to notice this. Gwaine says, "Alright, let's begin. Today, all you will be doing is watching Merlin and me sparring. I want you all to pay attention to the way we hold our swords and see how our footing is."

Merlin nods at this and Gwaine and he lead the recruits to the training grounds for the demonstration. Merlin takes off his brown jacket and grabs one of the spare swords from the racks and Gwaine pulls his personal sword out of his sheath. The two circle around in the center of the field, the recruits are lined up to see the match. Merlin decides to start by spinning his sword in a circle for show then proceeds to swing at Gwaine.

Gwaine parries his attack and ducks under another one of Merlin's swings. Gwaine jumps up and kicks Merlin, and Merlin stumbles backwards trying to stay on his feet. He brings his sword up and points it at Gwaine, and Gwaine points at Merlin with his sword. Merlin runs forward and waits for Gwaine to attack before falling back. Gwaine stumbles forward from Merlin not being in his attack area and nearly trips, which gives Merlin the perfect opportunity to walk forward and kick Gwaine in the shoulder, sending him to the ground.

Merlin backs away from Gwaine again and gets ready to get hit this time. Merlin can't be a perfect warrior that never gets hurt in battle or someone will realize that he's the Guardian. He has to be the perfect combination of vulnerable and undefeatable to fool Arthur, the knights, and everyone who has seen the Guardian of Camelot fight. But that doesn't mean he can't toy with the knights when they're sparring with him.

"Come on Gwaine!" Merlin encourages Gwaine as he gets up. "We have to do this all day, you can't take half of it getting off the ground."

Gwaine chuckles at this and runs at Merlin again, this time swinging for his legs. Merlin jumps over the sword, but falls down when Gwaine swings his arm back before Merlin lands the jump and the hilt of his sword hits Merlin in the back of the head.

"Come on Merlin! I thought you were better than this!" Gwaine says. "You're making me look like a liar in front of the recruits."

Merlin rises to his knees, a hand on his head, and turns his head to look back at Gwaine who was smiling still. The smile falls from Gwaine's face when he sees the grin on Merlin's face. Merlin rises to his feet and spins his sword for show in his right hand again, pointing it at Gwaine when he's done with the trick.

"If you want better, you should've said something earlier." Merlin says.

Gwaine raises his sword in front of his head, readying himself for Merlin's next attack. Merlin kicks Gwaine's sword out of its original place, leaving Gwaine vulnerable. Punching with his left hand, Merlin knocks Gwaine back a couple of feet into a rack of spare swords. Merlin made sure that he didn't push hard enough to cut Gwaine by pushing him into a sharpened sword. Gwaine turned around and pulled another sword from the rack and pointed both swords at Merlin.

Merlin saw that Gwaine looked uncomfortable with two swords. Most likely because Gwaine only ever practiced with two swords on four occasions. Merlin looked at Gwaine's hands to see if there was any way to use that against Gwaine, but unfortunately both hands held each sword in a strong grip. Merlin's only chance to knock one sword out of Gwaine's grasp was to be stronger than him and knock them out by the sheer force of his strength.

Gwaine swings both swords at Merlin, the left one first and then the right one. Merlin smoothly moves out of the way and the swords swing past his head. Merlin bends down and grabs Gwaine's exposed ankle and uses all his strength to pull up and Gwaine lands on his face with his ankle in the air in Merlin's hand. Gwaine kicks his leg away from Merlin's grasp and rolls over onto his feet, both swords still in his hands.

Gwaine turns around to face Merlin when he steadies himself on his feet. Then he raises a sword at Merlin, "Now that's better."

Gwaine stretches his arms then jabs at Merlin's abdomen with the sword in his right hand. Merlin swings his sword upwards as hard as he can and knocks the sword out of Gwaine's hand. The sword spirals in the air and lands with its blade in the ground a few feet behind Gwaine. Merlin grips his sword harder and punches Gwaine in the chest while his attention was with the sword stuck in the ground. Gwaine falls on the ground and Merlin puts his sword on Gwaine's neck.

"I win." Merlin says lowering his sword and helping Gwaine up.

"You only win this round." Gwaine says. "I've got all day to beat you. Besides, I think our audience wants us to fight again."

Merlin is confused when Gwaine says ' _audience_ ' and only then does he notice that people, besides the recruits, have gathered around to see the two fight. Among the crowd, Merlin sees Gaius, Percival, Leon, Elyan, Gwen, and… _Arthur_.Leon and Percival were the only ones not completely shocked at Merlin's fighting ability, as they already found out when Merlin first arrived back in Camelot. Arthur not only looks surprised, but also like he's… proud? Merlin is too busy looking at his friends that he doesn't notice Gwaine swing at him. Not until the flat of his blade is against Merlin's face and Merlin is falling to the ground.

Merlin looks up at Gwaine, who says, "Round two starts two seconds ago."

Merlin groans and starts to spar with Gwaine again.

* * *

"Merlin, that was amazing! Where did you learn to fight like that?" Arthur asks as him and Merlin enter Gaius' chambers.

"I was living with someone that was a healing an injury I got from a bandit. He wouldn't let me leave until he had taught me everything he knew about fighting." Merlin says.

It was the truth and Merlin didn't even hesitate to tell Arthur. Arthur raises his eyebrows when Merlin gets to the part about being injured, but he doesn't question anything. It didn't connect to magic so it would be fine if Arthur knew about that part of his journeys.

"One of these days you are going to tell me exactly what happened on your long… holiday, shall we call it?" Arthur says.

"Oh trust me, I'll tell you that and more." Merlin mutters under his breath.

"What was that?" Arthur asks.

"Nothing!" Merlin says quickly. "So what have you been doing since this morning?"

"Trying to get more allies for Camelot." Arthur says. "I have most kingdoms agreeing to help us, but there is one that had denied my request. We are fighting over some land with them, so it is understandable, but petty. We would never go into war with them, why would they let us possibly die?"

"I don't know." Merlin says. "Which kingdom is this exactly?"

"The Kingdom of Dacia." Arthur says.

"Well, I'm sure you'll think of something to get them on your side." Merlin says. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get my other jacket."

Arthur follows Merlin into his room. Merlin switches his brown everyday jacket for a red jacket that he only wears on very special occasions. The occasion tonight being that it is the fifth year anniversary of Arthur being crowned king. Arthur looked around Merlin's room, a sense of recognition appearing on his face. Arthur stops and Merlin hears a clatter and turns around to see Arthur bending down and reaching under Merlin's bed.

Merlin's eyes widened as Arthur pulled out the red blanket that was wrapped around the sword that Arthur saw the Guardian of Camelot use. Merlin straightens out when he sees the sight, thankfully Merlin wrapped it so that Arthur couldn't tell it was a sword. Just an object that was as long as a sword.

Arthur looks up at Merlin, "What's this?"

"It's a blanket." Merlin simply says.

"There's something inside of it thought." Arthur says and starts to unwrap the blanket.

"There's nothing inside of it." Merlin says.

"Merlin, I am not an idiot. A blanket doesn't just take a shape like this on its own." Arthur says, continuing to unwrap it.

"How would you know? It's not like you've ever seen a blanket that wasn't in a basket or on a bed." Merlin says.

Arthur completely unwraps the blanket, but looks up at Merlin instead of at the object. Merlin takes this opportunity to use his magic to move the sword from the blanket back to its place under his bed. Arthur doesn't notice and says, "Why are you acting so weird about this? Are you hiding something?"

"Of course not sire." Merlin says with a smile.

Arthur gives him a questioning look before looking down at the blanket. The questioning look turns into one of confusion when he doesn't see anything besides a blanket. Arthur continues looking at the blanket when he says, "I guess it is just a blanket. But I swear I felt something."

"Oh well, let's just get to that ceremony for you." Merlin suggests.

"Yes." Arthur agrees and throws the blanket on Merlin's bed.

"I'll meet you there." Merlin says when the two are at the door of Gaius' chambers. "I need to take care of something important first."

"Alright." Arthur says with the same questioning look as before.

Merlin smiles and shuts the door when Arthur turns his back to Merlin. Merlin runs into his room and takes the sword out from under the bed, wrapping it up in the blanket again, and runs out of Gaius' chambers with the sword. Merlin was stupid for thinking that hiding something like the sword known to belong to a very powerful figure and not him, would not be easy in Camelot.

* * *

Merlin called Kilgharrah to him and rode to the Darkling Woods. Specifically to the spot that he hid Arthur's sword in the rock. If it worked for Merlin then, it will work for a hiding spot now. Kilgharrah landed near the rock and let Merlin off of him.

"You must make sure that you bind the sword to your magic only, Merlin." Kilgharrah tells him. "Otherwise anyone's magic can take it from the rock."

"I know, I've done this before." Merlin says climbing down from Kilgharrah's head.

"Yes, but this sword is more powerful than Arthur's." Kilgharrah points.

Merlin doesn't say anything after that, he just walks to the rock, his back to Kilgharrah. Merlin raises the sword above his head uses his magic to drive the sword into the stone like he did with Arthur's. Merlin whispers a spell, " **Sienthy**."

The spell would bind Merlin's magic to the sword so that only his magic could take it from the rock. Merlin backed away from the sword and turned away from it. He climbed onto Kilgharrah once again and flew off to Arthur's special ceremony. The entire time flying back, Merlin looked in the direction of his sword. He knew that it wouldn't be the last time he saw the sword. It would be harder to get for the times that he has to become the Guardian of Camelot, but he could not risk anyone finding out.


	6. Fighting Back

**One Week Later**

Merlin walks through the halls with grace in his step, his first week of being Master of the Horse having taught him how to act like a person of royalty, or close to it anyway. Now he wears brown trousers stitched with more expertise and care than his old servant ones, a red tunic with gold embroidering around the hem and shoulders. The clothes, of course, were mainly just for show, and his personality has become more sophisticated, but most of the time he jokes around and acts like his normal self.

Merlin walks through the halls with his arms behind his back and his head held high. Arthur had called for a meeting of the Round Table to take place today. Merlin was on his way right now, in no hurry though. Earliness had become a trait that Merlin somehow learned in a week, so he walks and will most likely arrive on time rather than arrive early.

Merlin walks through the halls with thoughts of his future, of Arthur's future, in his mind. They have become better friends, especially now that Merlin isn't a servant anymore. But how long will that last, Merlin thought to himself When Arthur finds out about Merlin's magic, and he will because there is no way that Merlin is hiding the secret of him being a sorcerer from Arthur forever. They have already started building Albion, now all that was left was to keep Arthur and Camelot safe from harm… and death.

* * *

Merlin enters the council room and sees that most everyone is already there. He takes his seat at the Round Table between Arthur and Gaius. The last of the knights and royal court members arrive and the meeting begins when Arthur stands to address the Round Table.

"Knights, common men, servants, friends. I welcome you all to this meeting of the Round Table." Arthur begins. "It has been an eventful week for Camelot. With the arrival of the Guardian of Camelot, the time we were given to rebuild our kingdom, time to train knights that will hopefully be ready soon, and getting our new Master of the Horse."

Arthur puts his hand on Merlin's shoulder at the last part and a few people flash smiles in Merlin's direction, namely the knights of the original Round Table. Arthur continues, "I have decided that we are ready enough to start attacking Morgana's army on their own land. We have many allies now, all but the Kingdom of Dacia, however, I am close to a compromise with them. At dawn, I will lead a small group of knights to a village that is rumored to house many of Morgana's men. It is there that we will officially begin to fight back against Morgana's army."

Merlin took the clothes that marked him as the Guardian of Camelot from the floor board and put them into his pack. An hour ago he also took the sword out of the stone, he flew on Kilgharrah to get there again. Merlin was part of the group that Arthur chose to take on the attack group. The others being Gwaine, Percival, Leon, and Elyan, of course. They were leaving in about 30 minutes so Merlin had quite a bit of time to finish packing and saddle his horse. Merlin put the black trousers in the pack and put the black clothes under his normal clothes and secured his pack before going outside. He already ate and so goodbye to Gaius so he merely waved as he passed the old man he saw as a father.

Merlin saw his horse was already standing in front of the castle, being saddled by a boy he did not recognize. Merlin approached the boy with ease in his step and shook the boys shoulder. The boy shot up from saddling Merlin's horse and looked wide eyed at Merlin.

The boy began stuttering, "I-I'm s-s-sorry M-Mer-Merlin. I-I was j-just-"

"Enough." Merlin said. "You have no reason to fear me. I just merely want to know who you are, and why you are touching my horse."

"My name's Gregory." Gregory stuck his hand out and Merlin shook it.

"Good to meet you Gregory." Merlin said. "Now, about my horse…"

"Oh yes, I am Arthur's manservant and I was retrieving his horse, as well as your horse and the knights horses." Gregory says. "That is the job of a manservant after all."

"Yes," Merlin says, suddenly remembering that he had to retrieve all of the horses as well for a journey when he was a servant. "It is."

Arthur and the knights appeared walking out of the castle and down the stairs. Guinevere holding Arthur's arm as they walk down the stairs. Gregory bows when he sees Arthur and runs back inside the castle. Merlin watches Gregory as he goes back inside the castle. Merlin can't help but think that he's hiding something, he seems way too nervous. Merlin shakes the thought out of his head and mounts his horse, making sure that none of the black clothes nor his real sword is showing.

Arthur mounts his horse, which is next to Merlin's, and looks over at Merlin. He says, "You alright Merlin?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Merlin asks.

"I don't know. I was just asking." Arthur says. "Why do you have a pack?"

"In case anyone gets hurt I brought some medical supplies. It's not like Gaius is coming with us, and it could be a very fatal wound that someone might get."

"That's…" Arthur thinks for a second. "Wise?"

"Of course I am."

A mass of people come out of the castle to wave the group off before they go into battle. Merlin sees a woman run up and kiss Gwaine on the cheek. Merlin chuckles at the sight and the group of people wish them luck with their battle.

The knights mount their horses and the six of them ride away to the village Arthur wanted to take over. The village is over half a day's ride from Camelot, and the whole ride is in silence. Merlin can tell that they're all afraid that they will die in this battle. Even Arthur remains unusually silent during the ride.

It is close to dusk when Arthur raises his hand, a nonverbal way of telling them to stop. Arthur dismounts from his horse and draws his sword. The knights follow their king's example, and Merlin follows, holding his pack so it won't make any noise. Arthur kneels by a bush and pushes branches and leaves out of the way to reveal a village.

It is wrong to call it a village, it is more like a _very_ large town. A town with stone houses, torches and braziers everywhere, and a stone tower in the center of the entire thing. There are men in black armor walking around with torches everywhere. A few of them have balls of fire in their hand instead of torchers, indicating that there were indeed sorcerers here. Not that Merlin was surprised by that fact.

"What do we do?" Percival asks. "There are too many of them for us to just charge in there."

"That's what it seems like." Arthur says. "But I guarantee you, I will not let any of them live, or any of you die."

"I'm with the Queen if you guys are." Gwaine says.

"Of course I'm with you, Arthur." Merlin says.

"As am I." Leon says. Percival and Elyan nod in agreement with Leon.

Arthur smiles, "I knew I could trust you all. Let's go."

Arthur crouches and walks to the town and stabs a guard in the back when he isn't looking. Another guard notices and tries to attack Arthur but Leon has already killed him before he can move any closer to Arthur. Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan attack a trio of guards and easily kill them. Merlin watches as the Knights of Camelot work with their king.

Merlin decides to get in on the fun and takes out the sword Arthur gave him when he became Master of the Horse. Merlin sees two guards walking together and attacks them. Stabbing one through the chest and blocking an attack from the other. Merlin is about to stab the second guard when a blade is already protruding from his body. The guard falls forward and Merlin sees that Elyan is the one that stabbed the guard. Merlin smiles and continues on with the knights and Arthur.

Soon all of the guards outside the castle are dead, only one more remains. Merlin is the one to attack the guard with jab to the head. The guard easily defends himself from Merlin's attack and swings at Merlin. Merlin parries the attack and stabs the guard in the abdomen. Gwaine claps Merlin on the shoulder and chuckles, then a bell is heard throughout the town. Merlin turns and realizes that there were lookouts at the top of the stone tower and that they didn't hide the bodies of the dead guards.

"Get ready for a real fight!" Arthur shouts.

Arthur and the knights fix their stance so that they are in a defensive position. Merlin stands with his sword ready to fight. A huge amount of guards pour out of the door to the tower and start to swarm the knights, Arthur, and Merlin. Merlin is soon too busy fighting to see how the other knights are doing, but it can't be too well. Merlin knows that if he doesn't do something quick, all five of the knights will die.

Merlin starts to fight his way into a clearing the forest surrounding the town. There he takes off his pack, which he is surprised hasn't been ripped or torn from his back at all, and pulls out his sword and black clothes. He quickly changes, putting his everyday clothes in the pack and leaving the pack covered in a bush. Merlin enters the town again, remaining unseen, and climbs a house.

There he sees five men wearing red, the Knights of Camelot, being attacked by about eighty guards. Merlin raises his hands and twenty of the guards fly away from the men in red, dead on the ground. Merlin jumps down with his sword in hand and fights back against the guards, everyone that fights against him doesn't last more than five seconds as Merlin doesn't have to hold back his fighting ability anymore.

When there are only fifteen guards left, they are all attacking Merlin, completely forgetting about the Knights of Camelot. Merlin raises one hand and twelve of the guards fly into one of the stone houses and crack their heads on the stone. The three left fighting against Merlin now are all sorcerers like Merlin and one of them launches a fireball at Merlin. Merlin ducks zaps the man with a blast of lightning. Another sorcerer blasts Merlin back off his feet.

Merlin bangs his head against the ground and his vision blurs for a moment. A new wanting to kill this sorcerer enters his body and Merlin jumps to his feet and throws his sword at the man that blasted him back with magic. The sword lands in his heart and the man has a look of surprise on his face before he falls to his knees, then falls face first on the ground. Merlin walks towards the last sorcerer, taking his sword out of the chest of the other sorcerer, and the man crying when Merlin gets near.

"Please sir, I was forced to by Morgana. She threatened my wife and son." The man pleads.

"I don't believe you." Merlin says.

Merlin raises his sword and swings it through the man in front of him. Arthur and the knights stare at their guardian with wide eyes. Merlin sheathes his sword and turns to face the knights and King of Camelot.

Merlin says, "I told you I would protect your kingdom."

"That you did." Arthur says with a smile. "I thank you for keeping your word. I was not sure if I could trust you until now."

Merlin bows his head and says, "I would not lie to a man who fights for good. Morgana fights for herself, and that is something I can never be a part of. Even if she fights for magic."

"I know it must be hard fighting against the person that will give you your freedom." Arthur says.

"I am fighting for you, and I am free now, am I not?" Merlin says.

"Yes, you are." Arthur smiles. Then he looks around and gets a worried expression. He turns back to Merlin, "You didn't see a man with black hair running around, did you?"

"He was chasing after a group of those men. I'm sure he's alright, given his skill in battle." Merlin says.

"Yes." Arthur agrees.

"I must be going now." Merlin says. He turns but stops when he hears Arthur's voice again.

"We will see you again, right?" Arthur asks.

Merlin turns and smiles, but does not say anything. Then he runs off into the forest and back to the place where he left his clothes. He quickly changes back into his regular clothes and jogs back to Arthur and the knights.

"What did I miss?" Merlin asks.

Leon speaks before anyone else can, "The Guardian of Camelot."


	7. Arranged Marriage

Merlin rides back into Camelot, he had just put his sword back in the stone in the forest. Arthur and the knights were back an hour ago, Merlin left again when no one noticed to put his sword back. Merlin enters Gaius' chambers and takes his pack off. He lifts the loose floor board and puts his black clothes inside of it. Merlin puts the board back and takes his tunic off and goes to sleep.

Merlin wakes to someone roughly shaking his shoulder. He closes his eyes again when the sunlight from the window streams into his eyes. After a minute, Merlin is fully awake and turns his head to see that Arthur was the one that shook him awake. Arthur doesn't seem angry, more anxious and irritated. But it didn't seem like his emotions were directed at Merlin.

Merlin sits up and asks, "Why are you waking me up so early?"

"Early? It's midday." Arthur says. "I needed to ask you for a favor. A favor that will help Camelot greatly."

"Just tell me what I have to do." Merlin says and stretches before reaching for some regular clothes.

"I trust you remember that the Kingdom of Dacia has been refusing to become allies with us because we are fighting over land." Arthur says.

"Of course I do." Merlin says changing into the tunic he picked out.

"Well I have found a way to make those lands belong to both kingdoms and there will be no more fighting and most importantly, Camelot will have another powerful ally in the war against Morgana." Arthur says.

Merlin smiles, "That's great! What is it?"

"The King and Queen of Dacia have a son that will one day become king. They also have a daughter, Sophia. I have made arrangements to throw a wedding between Princess Sophia and Camelot's… Master of the Horse." Arthur says, his voice barely more than a whisper when he says the last part.

"What?" Merlin asks in disbelief. "You have put me in an arranged marriage?"

"I know you're against it, but Camelot needs all the help it can get." Arthur says.

"What even put it in your mind that I was husband material for a _princess_?" Merlin asks.

It's Arthur's turn to look at Merlin in disbelief. "Are you serious? You're an excellent fighter, you hold a high position in court, and you're respected among the entire kingdom. Why wouldn't you be a good husband for a princess?"

Merlin doesn't say anything. He turns his back to Arthur and stares out the window that blinded him earlier. Arthur walks forward a step, "Merlin, you are a loyal friend to me. I will not force you to marry Princess Sophia. But I need to gather as many powerful friends for Camelot. Just please think about this. The King, Queen, Prince, and Princess will be here in a few hours. I'd like to inform that they don't have to come before they leave Dacia. If that is your choice-"

"It's not." Merlin blurts out.

"What?" Arthur asks.

Merlin turns around and says, "If it will help Camelot, then of course I will marry the Princess Sophia."

Arthur smiles, "Very well. We should inform the knights right away."

* * *

The Knights of Camelot and the Royal Court all sit at the Round Table. Arthur stands and starts the council, "I have called you all here to inform everyone that the royal family of Dacia will be arriving here in a few hours. The nature of their visit is to establish peace. The lands that we have been fighting with them for will be a neutral area and will belong to both kingdoms. With this peace between Camelot and Dacia, Morgana will not stand a chance against the size of our armies."

"Sire." Leon says standing up. "Forgive me for speaking out, but how will this peace be achieved. We have offered many treaties, but none of them have been accepted."

"You are forgiven Leon, for you ask a very important question that you should all be aware of." Arthur says. "The King of Dacia has agreed to peace between the kingdoms through a special bond. A bond that cannot be broken no matter what."

Arthur turned to Merlin and they looked at each other for a second then Merlin looked down at the table. Arthur looks back at the rest of the Round Table. "The bond being… Merlin's hand in marriage to the Princess Sophia."

Merlin could tell that all eyes were on him. His suspicions were proven right when he looks up and sees everyone at the Round Table staring at him. Gwaine, however, smiles and starts looks like he's trying his hardest not to laugh. Gaius and Gwen look sort of sad, or maybe disappointed. Everyone else just looks sympathetic.

Arthur continues talking, "Alright, now that you know what is going on, the wedding will take place next week. I suggest that we get Camelot prepared for the arrival of the royal family of Dacia."

* * *

Merlin stands in front of the castle, Arthur and Gwen stand next to him, and the knights stand on the stairs behind them. A carriage appears with the crest of Dacia on it. Knights and guards surround the carriage, some walking and some on horses. Merlin stands straighter when he sees the carriage and puts his hands behind his back.

Gwaine, who was standing behind Merlin, must have noticed this because he whispers in Merlin's ear, "Nervous about meeting your future wife Merlin?"

"Wouldn't you be?" Merlin asks.

"I wouldn't be getting married in the first place?" Gwaine chuckles.

Arthur lightly punches Merlin's arms and Merlin turns to see that the carriage is now right in front of them. Merlin waits as one of the knights, the one in the front, gets off his horse and opens the door to the carriage. The royal family exits the carriage. First the King, then the Queen, then the prince. Merlin's breath nearly stops when he sees Sophia.

Sophia is the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on. Her hair is pure black, her eyes are a beautiful chocolate brown, and she has pearl white skin. What really stand out to Merlin about Sophia is her clothes. It's almost as if she wants to dress nice, but doesn't want to be recognized as royalty. Like Merlin, who wears simple, but elegant, clothing.

Sophia looks sadly around Camelot, her eyes look at the knights and people gathered around the front of the castle. Her eyes stop when they get to Merlin and her expression goes from sad to curiosity. Merlin is taken out of his thoughts when he hears Arthur's voice.

"King Aldred!" Arthur greets happily and shakes the King of Dacia's hand.

King Aldred greets back, "Arthur. It's been quite some time since I've seen you in person. You couldn't even hold a sword yet. But I'm glad that we are reunited on such a momentous occasion for both of our kingdoms."

"Yes," Arthur agrees then he points to Gwen. "This is my wife, Guinevere."

"Hello my lady." Aldred says and kisses Gwen's hand.

Arthur than pulls Merlin towards Aldred, "This is Merlin, my Master of the Horse."

Aldred looks Merlin up and down, "From what Arthur tells me, I should be glad for you to be a part of my blood line."

"I guess you'll just have to wait around and see if it's true yourself." Merlin says.

"Yes." Aldred agrees then he turns around. "Sophia, come meet your future husband, Merlin."

Merlin turns and sees that Sophia was looking at him the whole time he was talking to her father. Sophia swiftly walks up to Merlin. She says, "Hello, Merlin."

"Hello." Merlin says and kisses her hand.

For appearances, Merlin holds Sophia's hand and pulls her close to his side. Arthur turns to the crowd in front of the castle, "We shall celebrate the royal family of Dacia's arrival tonight with a feast. Next week, the wedding will be held at dawn. May we live in every lasting peace with Dacia."


	8. Bonding

"Tell me Arthur, what is this I hear about a sorcerer fighting in your name?" Aldred asks.

Arthur tenses, "The Guardian of Camelot, you mean?"

"I don't know what you people call him." Aldred says. "All I know is that he's a sorcerer."

"Well, he only fights with people he sees as ill intent to Camelot." Arthur says.

"Yes, for now." Aldred says. "But let me tell you something about sorcerers. They are unpredictable. They help you out one day and the next they are slaughtering your entire family."

"I don't think we have to worry about this sorcerer doing that." Arthur says.

"Yes, you might be right. This might be the first trustworthy sorcerer in a long time." Aldred says and smiles before taking a drink of his wine.

Merlin was at the end of the head table, next to Sophia, listening to the conversation between Aldred and Arthur. All of the knights of both kingdoms, and people of importance were in the dining room as well. Camelot went all out on celebrating the arrival of Dacia's royal family. His attention was pulled away from the conversation when someone tapped at Merlin's shoulder.

Merlin looked down to see that Sophia tapped him on the shoulder. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to formally say hello to you myself, without everyone staring at us." Sophia says.

"Oh, well then, hello. My name is Merlin."

"Hello Merlin, my name is Princess Sophia of Dacia."

"Sophia, I must say that you are different than I thought you'd be."

"How so? I hope it's not in a bad way."

"Of course not. I merely mean to say that you are more… down to earth."

"You thought I would be a prattish and spoiled girl, did you not?"

"Yes, I did."

"I thought you would be the same way as well. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw you for the first time."

"Oh look at you two," Gwaine says walking to them, Percival and Leon behind him. "Flirting already."

"Are you two happy for the wedding?" Leon asks.

Merlin turns to Sophia who is looking at him with the same look that says 'I don't know'. Then the doors burst open and Elyan runs inside a piece of parchment in his hands. "Sire, this was from an arrow that was shot into a guard's chest."

Elyan gives the parchment to Arthur, who was standing at this point. Arthur reads it out loud, "I know who you are Emrys. Hear my command and come find me or I will attack Camelot every day until it is mine."

The room is silent after that, the only sound coming from the breathing of the people. Merlin looked around for Gaius and saw that he was already looking at Merlin. The letter obviously came from Morgana and she had found out about Merlin's other name. Merlin gave a pleading look to Gaius, as if to say 'help me' and all Gaius could do was stare.

Arthur looked up from the parchment, fury clearly written all over his face. "Who is this Emrys that Morgana speaks of?"

The room is silent. Arthur says, "If you wish to remain silent, Emrys, that is fine, but if you do not tell me who you are in the next thirty seconds, I will kill you when I _do_ find out."

"Arthur," Gwen says. "There is no reason for such brash actions."

"Guinevere, our kingdom has been threatened, we cannot allow it to be put in more danger." Arthur says.

Aldred speaks this time, "Arthur, I can see that you are in need of our assistance. However, my hands are tied until the wedding. I suggest moving it up to two days from now."

"Yes. We will need your help, especially now." Arthur says, his eyes darting to Merlin's direction when he says it. Arthur turns around to Gregory. "Gregory, see to it that the preparations for the wedding are done by dusk tomorrow."

* * *

Merlin enters Arthur's chambers, Arthur right in front of him. The ceremony ended an hour early last night because most people were scared and wanted to get to the safety of their homes. Merlin had followed Arthur to his chambers from the throne to talk about the wedding that had been pushed forward to tomorrow. Arthur turns around to hear what Merlin has to say.

"I can't do this Arthur." Merlin says. "I can't marry Sophia. She's nice, but I just can't."

Merlin expects Arthur to start yelling, but he only sighs. "If that is what you want, then fine. I got carried away with doing everything I could to protect Camelot, I did not even consider your happiness."

"It is alright. I just want to get back to my life of checking the stables, and walking around." Merlin says.

Merlin turns around, but before he can take three steps, Arthur calls him back, "Merlin."

"Yes?" Merlin says turning around.

Arthur has a look on his face that shows both sadness and pain. Arthur says, "All those times I said you were useless, or a coward, I never actually meant any of it. I always thought that you were the most selfless and bravest man I have ever met, even before you left Camelot."

What Arthur says next nearly breaks Merlin. Probably thinking Merlin couldn't hear it, Arthur whispers, "I guess I was wrong."

Arthur turns and sits at his desk and starts reading something. Merlin stands there staring at Arthur, not even bothering to hide the hurt on his face. Gwen enters the room a smile on her face and her maid servant walking next to her.

Gwen notices Merlin and says, "Hello, Merlin. How have you been with the wedding coming up?"

Arthur looks up surprised to see that Merlin was still in his chambers. Merlin is still looking at Arthur with the look of hurt on his face. He suddenly doesn't want anybody to look at him and runs out of Arthur and Gwen's chambers.

Merlin runs out of the castle, the sunlight shining over him. Merlin turns right and runs into someone, knocking both him and the person he ran into down. Merlin sits up and looks at the person and sees that he ran into Sophia. Sophia sat up and looked at him in surprise.

"I'm sorry Sophia, I should have been more careful." Merlin says and stands up.

Merlin lowers his hand to help her up and Sophia takes. "It's quite alright Merlin."

"What were you doing running so fast?" Sophia asks.

"Running away from Arthur." Merlin says.

"Is he chasing you?" Sophia asks.

"No." Merlin says and Sophia gives him a confused look. Merlin quickly changes the subject. "What are you doing by yourself? I would have thought that the princess would have guards surrounding her all day."

"Running away from my family." Sophia says with a smile.

Merlin chuckles, "I have to tell you something about the wedding."

"Alright, but I need to say something as well." Sophia says. "If we are going to get married tomorrow at dawn, then we need to at least get to know each other."

Merlin looks at Sophia and makes the decision of whether to tell her or not. He decides that he will, but after getting to know Sophia. There was nothing wrong with making friends with Sophia. Merlin says, "Yeah, we probably should get to know each other better."

"Excellent, meet back here in an hour and bring a basket with food for the both of us." Sophia says.

"Why?" Merlin asks.

Sophia smiles, "We're going on a picnic."

* * *

Merlin walks back outside, the sun now high enough that it indicates midday, a basket full of food in his arms. Sophia is waiting for him by their horses, a blanket in her arms. Merlin walks up to her and puts the basket down and helps Sophia onto her horse. Merlin hands her the blanket once she's safely on her horse.

"You brought silverware, right?" Sophia asks.

"Yes." Merlin says and gets on his horse and sets the basket in front of him on his horse.

"Good." Sophia says. "I saw a perfect spot on the way to Camelot for our picnic."

"Lead on then." Merlin says.

Sophia smiles and she orders her horse to move, and her horse gallops away, Merlin not far behind her. Sophia leads Merlin through the forest on a trail heading west, a trail not many commoners go on. They eventually go off the trail when they get to a river that smoothly and calmly runs to the East, back towards Camelot. Merlin takes in the beauty of the scene.

"It's amazing." Merlin says to Sophia.

"Yes," Sophia agrees. "Now let's get everything in place."

Sophia jumps from her horse and lays the blanket down across the grass next to the river. Or she tries to, but the blanket curls up and wrinkles unevenly. Sophia tries again but gets the same result as the first time. Merlin sees her struggle is real and puts the basket down next to a tree and goes to help.

"Here, let me try." Merlin says and hold his hands out for the blanket.

Sophia hands it to him and waits. Merlin, having done this plenty of times for picnics between Arthur and Gwen, was almost an expert at this. He raises it high and slowly brings it down, almost like letting it float down. The blanket lies flat on the ground for them to sit down on.

Sophia looks at him, "That was almost perfect."

"I was Arthur's servant for over five years." Merlin says and sets the basket, which he had retrieved from the side of the tree as he was explaining, in the center of the blanket.

Sophia's eyes widen, "I have never heard of someone promoted from a servant to Master of the Horse before. I didn't think anyone that was a servant was able to become such a highly respected figure."

"You'll find that Arthur really doesn't care about titles." Merlin says. "He rewards people how he sees fit whether they be a common man, a servant, or a king. Everyone is equal in his eyes."

"That's so… fair." Sophia says.

"Indeed." Merlin agrees smiling.

Merlin pulls out two metal plates from the basket, as well as glasses and a bottle of wine and silverware. He puts a plate next to Sophia and himself, a glass next to each plate and fills both glasses, and puts the silverware next the plates. Sophia has set down on the blanket at this point and starts to take out the food to put on both plates. The food Merlin has brought is bread, cheese, ham, and chicken that he wrapped up in a clean towel and set it in its own corner of the basket in hopes of not ruining it.

Once everything was set out and all the food was split equally between the two, Merlin takes a sip from his glass. Merlin can tell that Sophia is looking at him, but pretends not to notice it. Sophia looks away and takes a bite out of her chicken lunch and then drinks from her glass. Merlin eats some ham and cheese together and wipes his mouth before speaking to Sophia.

"Please tell me, what does a princess like yourself do for fun?" Merlin asks.

Sophia looks up at him and sighs, "I love to ride horses, I read many hours of the day, and I sometimes like to fight."

"Fighting?" Merlin asks. "You don't seem like the kind of person who likes fighting."

"Neither do you." Sophia says with a smile. "But I hear you are a very skilled fighter."

"I know how to protect myself." Merlin says.

"And what does a man like you do." Sophia asks.

Merlin thinks for a moment, "Let's see… I am often subject to my friend's science tests, I am yelled at quite often, and… nope, I think that's it for what I do."

Sophia laughs and takes a drink of her wine. She sets her glass down and says, "What do you _enjoy_?"

"Being with you." Merlin says with a smile.

Sophia smiles too. Merlin did not know where the sudden outburst of affection came from, but he wasn't embarrassed by it. Just from their brief time together, Merlin could feel a connection to Sophia. The two talk more about their hopes and what else they like and finding similarities with each other. Merlin was surprised by how much the two had in common. He really would be happy married to this girl.

Merlin had just cleaned up the picnic and gotten on his horse when Sophia shouts, "Race you back to Camelot!"

Sophia gallops away on her horse and Merlin chases after her on his horse. Merlin has a smile on his face as his horse pulls up next to hers and the two are neck and neck. Being Master of the Horse, Merlin had spent a lot of time on a _horse._ However, Sophia must have ridden her horse back in her kingdom more than him because she pulls ahead from him.

It's dusk when they actually get back to Camelot, Sophia still in the lead. Merlin tries to make his horse go faster with a spell, but he accidentally makes his horse go slower. Sophia is still in his sight, but she is ahead by a great distance. Merlin catches up to Sophia at the courtyard of the citadel and sees Sophia cheer for her victory.

"I win!" She says.

"For now, but we will have another race." Merlin says and dismounts.

Sophia dismounts from her horse and Merlin takes the blanket from her arm and puts it under his arm and takes her hand. Merlin looks up at the night sky and smiles at the sight of the full moon. He looks back down at Sophia and smiles at her and leads her through the castle to her guest chambers. They laugh spontaneously at times during their walk, but stay silent of words. Merlin brings her to her door and spins around to see her one last time.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening Merlin." Sophia says.

"Of course, I look forward to another." Merlin says.

Sophia stands on her toes and kisses Merlin's cheek before entering her room with one more smile for Merlin. Merlin sighs at not being able to see her anymore. He has never changed his mind about someone so quickly, he actually loved her after a few hours together. Their wedding would be amazing.

Merlin's eyes widen when he remembered that he told Arthur to cancel the wedding. He whispers, "Damn."

Merlin turns and starts to run but stops when he sees Gwen, Arthur, Elyan, Gwaine, Percival, and Leon peeking from the corner of the wall at the end of the hallway. When Gwaine sees that Merlin sees them he falls, and him being under everyone at the corner of the wall, everyone else falls on top of stares at the pile of his friends with a raised eyebrow. How long had they been watching?

"What are you all doing?" Merlin asks.

Arthur is the first to stand, "As the King of Camelot, I say no one has to answer that."

Arthur helps Gwen up and before he leaves he says, "Have a good wedding Merlin, I never did get around to canceling it."

"Good luck Merlin." Gwaine says and runs off in the direction of Arthur and Gwen.

The rest of the knights follow their king and queen, all wishing Merlin good luck. Merlin is left staring at where his friends were. Eventually Merlin starts laughing and thinks to himself, _I have the weirdest friends_.


	9. Wedding Crasher

"Merlin, calm down." Hunith tells her son.

Merlin and his mother are in the castle, in a room that isn't used very often, getting ready for the wedding that will happen soon. Very soon. He is wearing a very elegant blue tunic with silver embroidering all over it in different patterns, black trousers, brown boots, his sword belt with his fake sword sheathed in it, and a because he has such a high position in court that he wears a red cloak of Camelot with the Pendragon family crest on it. Merlin is very nervously pacing, both anxious and scared for the new part of his life about to take place.

Merlin stops pacing and turns to his mother, "I can't, mother, I'm so nervous."

"Here," Gaius says walking into the room that Merlin was prepared in. He hands Merlin a potion in a purple glass bottle. "This should help with your nerves. I just gave Sophia hers."

"Thank you Gaius." Merlin says and drinks the potion. When he's done he sets it on the table in the room. Merlin instantly starts feeling less and less nervous. "That works fast."

"Yes, it is something I prepare for all weddings just in case they are too nervous to go through with the wedding." Gaius says.

"Good, I needed it." Merlin says. "Gaius?"

"Yes?" Gaius asks.

"Do you think I'm making the right choice by letting Arthur force me into this marriage?"

Gaius looks to Hunith and they share the same look. Gaius turns back to Merlin, "Merlin, do you love this girl?"

Merlin says, "Yes."

"Then I wouldn't say that Arthur is forcing you into this marriage. At first, yes he was, but now it is you and Sophia that have _chosen_ to be married. Arthur simply made the two of you meet each other." Gaius says.

Merlin nods, then the door opens. Gwaine and Percival poke their heads in. Gwaine smiles when he sees Merlin and says, "Time to get married Merlin."

* * *

Merlin waits outside the same room that held Arthur's coronation, Gwen's coronation, and their marriage. The room is filled with people on two sides of the room, leaving a space in the middle of the room for him and Sophia to walk in. At the end of the room Arthur and Gwen stand on one side while Sophia's parents and brother stand on the other. Merlin will stand in front of Arthur and Gwen, and Sophia will stand in front of her family.

After waiting a minute, Merlin enters the room and walks in the middle line left open by the people, his cloak dragging on the wood floor. Merlin climbs up the steps and stands in front of Arthur and Gwen, his back to the colored window. Merlin turns to Arthur and Gwen, both of them are looking at him with smiles on their faces. Then the doors open again and Merlin turns around.

Sophia walks in the room wearing a green dress with silver lining, earrings that look like crystals, white shoes, and a crown on the top of her head symbolizing that she is a princess. Sophia catches Merlin staring at her and smiles. Merlin smiles back and waits as Sophia climbs up the steps and stands in front of her family. They hold hands and Geoffrey walks up and stands in the middle of Sophia's family, and Arthur and Gwen.

Geoffrey holds his book closer to his face and starts the wedding ceremony, "Today we celebrate the marriage of Princess Sophia of Dacia, and Camelot's Master of the Horse, Merlin. Today we celebrate the beginning of an alliance between Camelot and Dacia."

There is a silence in the room that follows the beginning of the ceremony. Geoffrey continues, "Do you, Merlin, vow to be faithful, loyal, and loving to Sophia until the day you die?"

"I vow to do so." Merlin says still looking at Sophia.

Geoffrey turns to Sophia, "And do you, Princess Sophia, vow to be faithful, loyal, and loving to Merlin until the day you die?"

Sophia smiles at Merlin, "I vow to do s-"

Sophia stops when an arrow suddenly shoots through the glass window behind Merlin and embeds itself in Sophia's chest. Sophia's eyes roll back into her head and she starts to fall to the ground. Merlin falls to his knees to catch her in his arms, Sophia's crown falling off her head and rolling down the steps.

Sophia looks up at him, and chokes out, "I… love you… M-Merlin."

Sophia's body stills and Merlin stares at her, unable to do anything. The room is suddenly filled with the unsheathing of swords from both Dacia and Camelot knights. Merlin notices that a piece of parchment in on the arrow and takes it off the arrow, still holding onto Sophia. Merlin reads it, _I warned you Emrys_.

Arthur takes the piece of parchment and reads it, he yells and hands it to King Aldred. Merlin is crying over Sophia's body at this point, not noticing anything going on outside of his body. He doesn't notice that the doors suddenly fly open and Morgana's army floods inside, he doesn't notice anything until he is pulled from Sophia's body. Merlin punches at the arms that are pulling him away from Sophia, kicking his legs to hopefully get out of the men's grasps.

"Merlin, stop fighting, we need to go." Arthur yells.

Merlin realizes that the arms around him are Arthur, Percival, and Leon. Merlin turns and takes one last look at Sophia's body before he gets to his feet and runs on his own. Merlin runs to Gaius' chambers, all of the others, including Gaius and Gwen, are behind him. Merlin runs into his room to get his Guardian of Camelot disguise and puts it in a pack, while the rest stay in the main room.

Merlin leaves his room and watches as Gaius treats a cut on Percival's arm. When he is done, Gaius asks, "Is anybody else hurt?"

When no one answers, Gaius starts packing medical supplies to take with them. Arthur looks angry and says, "We should not have let our guard down. I _knew_ we should have done the wedding yesterday. Now my kingdom has been taken from me."

"We will get it back." Gwen says. "But right now we need to leave and hopefully find others that have escaped as well."

"The queen is right." Leon says. "We have agreed that if we were to be taken over we would hide in the Darkling Woods, at the same place where Arthur got his sword."

Merlin looks up in surprise at his. Merlin's real sword is there because he had forgot to take it last night. At least no one knows this yet, there might be time to take it before anyone knows it is there. Merlin would have to act fast though.

"We have to leave." Percival says.

Arthur leads the group out of Gaius' chambers and out of the castle. They take a path that Merlin did not know existed. Arthur takes his keys off of his belt when the get to a wall and takes a panel of wood off of the wall, revealing a door. Arthur finds the right key and unlocks the door, ushering everyone through the tunnel that the door was hiding. When everyone is inside, Arthur keeps the door open, but puts the fake wooden panel back into place to hide it.

The tunnel is made out of stone and is lit dimly by torches that are far apart from each other. Leon is leading with Percival and Merlin behind him, then Gaius and Gwen are behind them, and Arthur is at the back. When they get to the end of the tunnel, Arthur goes to the front and unlocks the gate and the six crawl out into the woods.

"Now we have to hope that knights get people out." Arthur says.

"How far are the Darkling Woods?" Merlin asks.

"You don't remember Merlin?" Percival asks amused.

"It's been seven years." Merlin points out.

"Yes it has been." Percival says. "It's only a day on foot, two at most."

"Let's get going then." Arthur says coldly and walks past everyone and leads.

* * *

Merlin walks next to Gaius at the back of the group, helping him when his legs weaken. Arthur seemed to be angry at something. He had not aloud any breaks, he barely spoke, and he never looked behind at the people behind him. Merlin didn't know what Arthur was mad at, but he was getting angry himself. Mainly at Arthur for not letting anyone, especially Gaius, rest for even a second.

"Thank you Merlin." Gaius says after Merlin catches him when he faltered in his step and nearly tripped.

"Stop." Arthur suddenly says, putting his hand up.

Merlin watches as Arthur listens for whatever he heard, waiting for him to say they can start moving. Unfortunately, Merlin hears footsteps coming from multiple people to his right. Five men sprang from the bushes and started to run at the group. Merlin's anger flared up when he saw them. He was going to kill them all. He lost his wife, his mother is rotting in a prison or dead, and his friends are who knows where. He was not going to let any of them live.

Merlin ran to the man in the front of the enemy group and stabbed him in the leg and threw him in front of the man behind him. The man tripped and Merlin stabbed him in the head, then killed the man that he stabbed in the leg. Merlin heard a crossbow go off and time seemed to have slowed down, his magic probably saving him. He saw the arrow slowly coming towards him, three inches away from his face. Merlin grabbed the arrow and stuck it into the skull of the next man running at him.

Time went back to normal and Merlin ducked under a blade swinging at his head and stabbed the owner of the blade in the abdomen. The only person left now was the crossbowman. Merlin walked towards him, deflecting an arrow with his sword. Just as the crossbowman shot another arrow, which missed Merlin, Merlin stabbed the man in the chest.

Merlin turned around to see Arthur, Leon, and Percival with their swords out, but at their sides. They put them down when they realized their help was not needed in this battle. The three of them and Gwen looked awestruck by Merlin's battle. Gaius had an expression that Merlin could not read.

Arthur quickly shook out of his awe and says, "Let's go. We have to keep moving."


	10. Sword in the Stone

"It should only be another hour." Arthur calls back from the front of the line that the six of them have made.

Merlin is at the end of the line, next to Sir Leon, who is helping Gaius walk, with Percival's help. Gwen is in front of them and behind Arthur, not saying a word about anything anyone says or does. Merlin watches all of their movements from behind and listens to the area around the group.

"Arthur." Leon says, stopping and helping Gaius stand.

Arthur stops and turns around, anger evident in his expression. "What?"

"We need to stop. Gaius cannot continue like this." Leon says.

"It is only an hour away." Arthur argues.

"And Gaius might not make it that long." Percival says, now joining Leon.

Arthur looks at Gwen, who waits patiently for Arthur's decision, then at Merlin, who stares at him with an unreadable expression. Finally, Arthur turns to Gaius, who can't even take a step on his own. Arthur sighs and says, "We'll camp here for a while."

"Thank you sire." Leon says.

Percival and Leon take Gaius to sit on a fallen tree. Merlin stares at his father figure, saddened at Gaius' frail body weakening by the second. Why had Merlin been so foolish? None of this would have happened if he had asked Arthur to just the wedding up to yesterday. Now his wife is dead, his mother might have been killed, and he was forced out of his home just to watch Gaius slowly weaken. Only one thing was certain from this point on, nothing would ever be the same again.

"Merlin," Arthur says walking up to him. "I need you to get more water for us all. And if you can, find us something to eat."

"Fine." Merlin says.

"Really? You're not even going to try to fight me?" Arthur asks.

Merlin nods and Arthur looks at him in disbelief, "Where was this side of you when you were still my manservant?"

"I have lost too much to care now." Merlin says and leaves to gather the things before Arthur can say anything.

* * *

Merlin puts the water next to a tree and runs off in the direction of his real sword. All he can do is hope that none of the other survivors of the attack has beaten him to it. Especially one of his friends that doesn't know he has magic. Which is all of his friends really.

Merlin ducks under low branches and jumps over ditches and creeks that have short widths. He didn't have much time to get the sword so Merlin had to be quick to get the sword. Merlin remembered Arthur saying that it was an hour away walking from where the group was. Running as fast as Merlin was probably meant that it would only be around half that time, or less.

Merlin stopped in the middle of a clearing, flowers, bushes, and trees all around him swaying with the wind. Then a sound to Merlin's right made him turn and take his fake sword out of its sheathe and point in the direction of the noise. Merlin stepped carefully in the direction of the sound and used the sword to push a bush out of the way.

Suddenly, Merlin's sword is pulled forward and out of his hand, and Merlin tumbles forward onto the ground. Merlin gets to his feet, getting himself ready for a fight, but turns around confused when he hears a laugh. The man that pulled his sword out of his hand and put him on the ground was none other than the usually drunk knight, Sir Gwaine. Merlin starts laughing with Gwaine and sees Elyan is next to Gwaine with a smile on his face.

"Where have you been, Merlin?" Gwaine asks.

"We were just about to meet at the place where Arthur got his sword. We had to take a break though because Gaius needed a break." Merlin explains.

"Who else is with you?" Elyan asks, obviously hoping to hear that his sister is alive.

"Gwen, Percival, and Leon." Merlin says.

Elyan sighs, "Good."

"Is my mother with you?" Merlin asks hopefully.

"Yes, she is okay." Gwaine says.

"Perfect." Merlin says. "At least she is alive."

"You really did love her, didn't you?" Gwaine says.

"What?" Merlin asks. "Of course I love my mother."

"No, he means Sophia. You loved her." Elyan explains.

"Oh." Merlin says with sadness. "Yes, I did. But now I need to focus on helping Arthur regain Camelot."

Elyan and Gwaine look at each other for a second before turning back to Merlin. Elyan says, "You're right. Take us to Arthur and we will take you back to our camp."

* * *

Merlin took Elyan and Gwaine to the group. After a short explanation of what happened to each group, Elyan and Gwaine led the way to the place Arthur got his sword. Merlin was both angry and nervous because he had not been able to get his real sword because he didn't get to it in time. When they got to the rest of the survivors, they saw that not many people survived.

There were about sixty adults and fifteen children there. More than half of the adults were knights, which really didn't surprise Merlin. The adults that were not knights were mostly women, but there were quite a few common men. Merlin eventually found his mother, who was next to King Aldred and his family. Well the family that didn't die.

When everyone saw Arthur and Gwen, they cheered and clapped for the arrival of their king and queen. Gwen smiled and waved at her people, then proceeded to comfort the people in desperate need at the camp. Arthur didn't say anything to his people, or even smile, he was mesmerized by Merlin's real sword, which was in the middle of the clearing.

Merlin followed him to the sword, Gwaine and Elyan behind them. Gaius was taken to a medical tent while they walked to the sword, a couple of other knights helping Percival and Leon. Arthur stood in front of the sword and looked at it with recognition and wonder.

"It's his. The Guardian of Camelot's, I mean." Elyan says.

"I can see that." Arthur says. "What I don't know is why it is here. It's almost as if the Guardian of Camelot knows me personally."

"What if he does?" Gwaine says.

"I don't know." Arthur frowns. "And if we do know each other personally, why would he not seek credit for what he has done?"

"He's a sorcerer." Merlin says. "He's probably was scared you'd have him executed."

"And he did say that you would never trust him if you knew his true name." Elyan says.

"I suppose you're right, but I can't believe it." Arthur says.

"Believe what?" Gwaine asks.

"If his sword is here, then he never even tried to help save Camelot today." Arthur clarifies.

"I'm sure he tried, but he was just too late." Merlin says.

"The blade is gathering dust Merlin." Arthur argues. "Not that you would know. You seem to be blind to dust as it was everywhere in my chambers when you were my servant."

Merlin rolls his eyes, "Well-"

Merlin is cut off by King Aldred, "Arthur! Thank God you're alive!"

"Aldred, good to see you." Arthur says and shakes hands with Aldred.

"I see you have found the sword of that sorcerer. No one has been able to pull it out." Aldred says. "I thought you said that sorcerer protected Camelot. It doesn't look like he even tried to save the place today."

"I am aware. I'm sure he has a good explanation." Arthur says.

"Explanation?" Aldred asks in surprise. "It's obvious what the explanation is. He is not loyal to you anymore."

"What would you know? It's not like you've even met him." Merlin says, surprising everyone.

Aldred glares, "Watch your tongue, boy. Just because you would be the husband of my daughter does not mean-"

" _Stop_!" Arthur says. "This is not the time to fight."

"Yes," Leon says walking over to them. "We have to come up with a way to get Camelot back."

"You have my full support, Arthur. I'm not going to let the bastards that killed my daughter live." Aldred says.

"No." Arthur says. "For now, we must stay put and see what we can all do to survive."

Arthur walks away towards Gwen, leaving all of the knights, Merlin, and Aldred staring at where he was. What Arthur said had surprised and scared all of them. No one had seen Arthur say something so… un-Arthur like.

* * *

Later that night, Merlin saw Arthur sitting on all alone. He said bye to his mother and Gaius, who seemed a lot better, and went to sit next to Arthur. Arthur briefly looks at Merlin then back at the ground without saying anything.

"Are you alright?" Merlin asks.

"I didn't know you cared so much about me." Arthur jokes.

"I'm serious."

Arthur sighs, "What do you think? I've lost my kingdom, and the loyalty of the Guardian of Camelot."

"What makes you think the Guardian of Camelot has given up on Camelot?"

"I've already told you. He didn't even try to help us today."

"What if he just simply didn't know?"

"Merlin, he rides on the back of a dragon. Of course he knows when Camelot is in trouble."

"Arthur, I don't think he's given up on you."

"Of course he has." Arthur says turning to look at Merlin. "And I can't do anything without him. If he doesn't believe in me then perhaps I'm not meant to be the king anymore."

"Arthur, that's ridiculous." Merlin says. "You need to believe in yourself, or we're not going to get Camelot back."

Arthur stares at him before turning to look at the ground again and says, "I don't deserve it."


	11. Guardian Revealed

Kilgharrah flies through the night sky and lands in front of Merlin. Merlin walks up to him, he snuck away from the camp to talk with Kilgharrah. Kilgharrah straightened when he saw the warlock and waited for him.

"I summoned you here because of Arthur." Merlin says when he gets to the dragon.

"What about Arthur?" Kilgharrah asks.

"He doesn't believe in himself anymore, and doesn't want to even plan on getting Camelot back from Morgana." Merlin explains. "He thinks that the Guardian of Camelot, that I, have given up on protecting Camelot. I don't know what to do. He won't do anything unless the Guardian of Camelot shows Arthur that he believes in him. How do I get Arthur's confidence in himself back?"

Kilgharrah laughs after Merlin explains what's happened. Merlin's anger flashes, "Do you think this is funny?"

"Not the circumstances of our meeting, no. But your question, I do think is funny." Kilgharrah says.

"Why?"

"Because you have already told yourself the answer. Arthur won't do anything without your support."

"No, he won't do anything without the Guardian of Camelot's support."

"Yes, and _you_ are the Guardian of Camelot."

"But Arthur doesn't know that."

"Well, maybe it is time he did know it."

Merlin stares at the dragon and says, "I can't because he'll execute me. I'm a sorcerer, that's what I've been hiding for all of these years."

"I believe Arthur does not feel any hatred for the Guardian of Camelot. Just anger at himself for not being able to protect Camelot himself." Kilgharrah says. "I must go now. Good luck, Merlin."

* * *

Merlin walks back to the camp, the first lights of dawn shining through the forest. Most people are up and walking around in the clearing where Merlin's real sword is. Merlin stares at the sword and decides that he should tell the truth about the Guardian of Camelot _now_. Aldred said that people have already tried to pull the sword out, but they can't. Merlin pulling it out, in front of everybody, will prove that he is the Guardian of Camelot.

Merlin turns to the tent that Arthur and Gwen are staying in, the biggest in the camp, and runs over to it. Gwen is already outside helping with the cooking, along with Gaius and Hunith. Merlin enters the tent and sees Arthur fully awake clothed, sitting on the edge of the bed inside it, looking the side of the tent. He looks up when Merlin enters.

"What is it?" Arthur asks.

Merlin takes a seconds before saying, "We need a plan on how to get Camelot back from Morgana."

"I have already told you, Merlin." Arthur says standing up. "I cannot do anything with the Guardian of Camelot's support, and he has shown that he doesn't think I should be in charge anymore. I thought he was going to be eternally loyal to me."

"I am." Merlin blurts out.

"What?" Arthur asks. Most likely because Merlin's said _I_ instead of _he_.

Merlin sighs, "Come outside, I need to show you something."

"Why?" Arthur asks.

Merlin turns around from the tent exit and says, "I'm going to show you that the Guardian of Camelot is still loyal to you, and only you."

"And how are you going to do that?" Arthur asks, following Merlin out of the tent.

"You'll see." Merlin says, leading Arthur to the sword in the stone.

Merlin stands in front of the stone and waits for Arthur to get to him. A few people noticed Merlin and pointed and told their friends. By the time Arthur is behind Merlin, standing where Merlin stood when he got his sword, all of the people in the camp were staring at them.

"You're going to make a fool of yourself." Arthur says.

"No," Merlin says, turning from the sword. "I'm going to show you that the Guardian of Camelot still believes in you and wants to do everything to help Camelot. You were right when you said that the Guardian of Camelot knows you, now let me show you much he knows you."

When Merlin stops speaking, Arthur's eyes widen at what he said. Probably understanding what Merlin was really saying. Merlin turned back to the sword, doing his best to ignore the stares that were on him. Merlin gripped the hilt of the sword and used his magic to pull the sword out of the stone.

There is a loud grinding sound for a couple of seconds before Merlin is holding the sword that is now free from its stone prison. Everyone, besides Gaius who already knew, stares at him with shock and disbelief, especially the Knights of the Round Table. Merlin turns his head to see Arthur staring at him the same way, but with less surprise than the others. Merlin lowers the sword and fully turns his body towards Arthur and walks over to him.

"Now do you see why I couldn't fight off Morgana?" Merlin asks.

Arthur nods, "It's because you were part of the wedding that she interrupted in her pursuit for that man. For Emrys."

"Yeah." Merlin says looking at the ground from the last part.

"Is there something else I need to know?" Arthur asks.

Merlin shakes his head, "Of course not."

Arthur narrows his eyes, "Merlin…"

"Alright fine," Merlin says. "I'm Emrys. It is what the druids call me."

"Of course you are." Arthur says turning away. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"I was born with magic and was using it in Camelot even before I left for seven years." Merlin says.

Arthur quickly turns back to him in surprise, "Really?"

"Yes." Merlin says.

Arthur smiles, "It all makes sense now. The first night the Guardian of Camelot arrived, Guinevere said that you disappeared for a while. The second time, you were nowhere to be found during the fight with Morgana's men. And when you said you spent time up North, I remembered my father telling me that the North was mostly sorcerer lands that he couldn't get to."

"I guess you have been paying attention." Merlin jokes.

Arthur chuckles, "Of course I have… Guardian."


	12. Taking Camelot Back

"Tonight we will take back Camelot." Arthur says in front of the people of the camp.

He is giving a speech for the attack they are about to attack Morgana's army and get Camelot back. Merlin stands next to him in his black Guardian of Camelot clothes, he does not have the hood up or the piece of fabric on his face. The Knights of the Round Table stand on the other side of Arthur, and Gwen is next to Merlin.

The group is only an hour away from Camelot and have set up a new camp for the children and people who don't want to fight to stay. Very few adults will be in the camp. Everyone wants to fight to get their homes back and their freedom. Both of which were taken by Morgana.

Arthur continues, "Tonight, we will fight Morgana and take back our home. Who is with me?"

All of the people and knights raise their hands and cheer for Arthur. Arthur raises his sword, "For the love of Camelot!"

"For the love of Camelot!" The chant is carried out.

Arthur yells, "On me!"

* * *

The people fighting for Camelot split into ten groups. Merlin was in a group with Arthur, Gwen, and the Knights of the Round Table. They were the smallest group because they would fight quietly inside of the citadel while everyone else fought outside the citadel, drawing attention away from Morgana. The group stopped when they saw four guards fighting for Morgana sitting at a table.

"What now?" Gwaine asks.

"Leave it to me." Merlin says, his face still not covered. "Just keep quiet."

With that Merlin runs at the guards, kicking the guard in the front left in the face and stabbing the guard next to the guard he kicked in the knee and then in the chest. The guard that Merlin kicked down gets up. The three guard strike at Merlin at the same time and Merlin puts his sword up to hold all three of their swords. The three guards press down against Merlin's sword with all their strength. Merlin feels his arm weakening and jumps out of the attack area, all three guards hitting the stone floor with their swords.

Merlin swings his sword and slits the throat of the guard on the right. The two remaining guards back away from Merlin and whisper something to each other before running at Merlin together. One swings for Merlin's head, the other for Merlin's legs. Merlin jumps through the blades and throws his sword behind him, knowing it hit his target when there is _thump_. Merlin turns around and pulls his sword from the back of one of the guards and turns to the last one standing.

The guard rushes at Merlin his sword swinging for Merlin's right side. Merlin leans his body as far left as he can and the guard's sword doesn't hits the ground next to Merlin's foot. The guard picks his sword up and swings at Merlin's left side. Merlin moves his body to the right and the guard's sword rips Merlin's black tunic and cuts his arm.

Merlin steps away from the man and grabs at his arm, however, the guard continues to fight and runs at Merlin again, his sword raised high above his head. Merlin raises his sword just before the guard swings his sword and his blade pierces through the guard that was running at him.

The guard falls and Merlin pulls his sword from the man's body and sheathes it. Merlin looks at his cut and whispers a healing spell, " _Wel cene hole_."

Arthur, Gwen, and the knights walk from the corner to Merlin. Gwaine walks next to Merlin, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I healed the cut." Merlin says showing him the rip in his tunic and his healed skin.

Gwaine raises one of his brows, "You using magic is going to take a long time to get used to."

"Why didn't you use magic _during_ the fight?" Arthur asks. "You wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place if you did."

"I only use it when necessary." Merlin tells him. "Four people wasn't a big enough threat for magic."

"I hate to interrupt," Gwen says. "But we need to stop Morgana."

"Right." Arthur says and turns to the knights. "You four go to the dungeons, rescue as many prisoners and get the attention of the guards in the citadel. Do whatever you have to do to get them away from Morgana."

"Yes sire." Leon says and leads the knights in the direction of the dungeons.

Arthur turns to Gwen and Merlin, "Let's go get Morgana."

* * *

Arthur stabs the last guard in front of the doors leading to the throne room and pushes them open. Morgana sits upon the throne, staring at them with an evil sneer and a wicked look her eyes. A few guards stand in front of Morgana, their weapons drawn, and a man stands next to Morgana, a man that Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen knew all too well.

"Gregory." Arthur says. "Why have you betrayed me?"

"I haven't betrayed you." Gregory says. "You see, for me to betray you I would have had to be on your side at one point. I never was."

"Be silent my loyal friend." Morgana says and stands up, looking at Arthur. "Hello dear brother."

"Morgana." Arthur says stepping forward.

"What?" Morgana asks, her smile growing. "No words of how I am wrong to take Camelot, or how magic has corrupted me?"

"Magic does not corrupt anyone," Arthur says, and Morgana's smile fades slightly. "You are just a selfish girl who wants to be queen."

"We shall see." Morgana says, her smile gone. Her eyes shift to Merlin, and she scowls. "You… I should kill you now. You took my dragon away from me."

"Aithusa doesn't belong to you, she belongs to herself." Merlin says.

"What would you know about Aithusa?" Morgana asks.

"I saved her from the Tomb of Ashkanar, I summoned her into the world, I gave her the name Aithusa." Merlin says, Arthur and Gwen staring at what Merlin had without them ever knowing.

Morgana laughs, "And how would you be able to do all that. Dragons can only be summoned by dragonlords, the last one was Balinor, and you know how where he is."

"Balinor was my father." Merlin says. "When he died, I became the last dragonlord."

"Well, too bad for the dragonlords, because they will end when I kill you." Morgana says.

Morgana puts her hand out and starts to whisper a spell, but Merlin used his magic to throw Morgana back. The Gregory growled and lunged at Merlin, and Merlin unsheathed his sword and punched Gregory before he could properly attack. Gregory stumbled back a few feet and Merlin kicked him in the head while he was doubled over, knocking Gregory unconscious on the floor.

Merlin looked at where Morgana was and saw her holding her side and walking out of the throne room. Merlin turned to Gwen and Arthur, "Go get her, I've got the guards."

Gwen and Arthur ran in the direction of Morgana, and Merlin faced the guards that are pointing their weapons at him. Merlin puts his hood up and readies himself for the guards to attack. Three guards attack first, Merlin puts his sword up to block all three attacks, but the strength of the three guards together was something Merlin couldn't handle and his sword was knocked from his hand and slid across the room and hit a column.

"Of course." Merlin says sarcastically and looks to the advancing guards.


	13. The Battle

Arthur and Guinevere run through the halls of Camelot, jumping over bodies of Camelot knights and Morgana's knights. All of which died during the battle when Morgana took over Camelot two days ago. Arthur jumps over body, and the castle starts to shake. Arthur turns around to see the ceiling collapse, creating a wall between him and Guinevere. Arthur runs forward and tries to pull and push the wall of rocks and rubble down, but nothing works.

Arthur gives hits the wall in frustration and shouts, "Guinevere! Guinevere, can you hear me?!"

When there is no reply, Arthur shouts in frustration and kicks the wall and runs off through the castle. There is no one alive that knows the castle better than Arthur, and there are multiple ways to get back to where Guinevere was. Arthur just had to go the fastest way, which meant he had to go back through the throne room.

* * *

Merlin ducks under one sword and kicks the sword out of the next guard's hand. Merlin then tackles the third guard and rolls out of the way as another guard's sword slices through the air and cuts the third guard's head off. Merlin moves his head to the right as a fifth guard's sword hits the column he was leaning on, exactly where Merlin's head was. Merlin punches the guard in the chest, then in the head. The guard stumbles back, grabbing his head where Merlin punched it, and Merlin grabs the guard's sword that was still in the column and pulls it out, stabbing the guard in the abdomen.

Merlin sees his sword on the other side of the room and saw that only three more guards were in his way. Merlin ran, the guard's sword still in his hand, and stabbed one guard in the chest and whispered a spell to set another guard on fire. Merlin rolled on the ground, dropping the guard's sword and grabbing the hilt of his sword and throwing behind him, watching it sink to the hilt in the last guard's body.

Merlin got up and grabbed his sword from the guard's body and started running in the direction he saw Morgana, Arthur, and Gwen go. But Merlin didn't take four steps before the castle started shaking and he tripped and fell to the ground. Merlin let out a small yelp of pain as he felt his chest hit something sharp. When the shaking stopped, Merlin slowly sat up and saw that he fell on top of his own sword and cut his chest _very_ deep. Merlin put his sword on the ground and grabbed his chest, wincing when his fingers made contact with the cut.

Merlin let out a shaky breath and slowly spoke, " _Wel cene hole._ "

The spell did nothing and Merlin sighed as he tried a different spell, " _Gestepe hole Þurhhæle._ "

Again, the spell did nothing. Merlin let out a frustrated groan and nearly shouted in his frustration, " _Licsar ge staðol nu!_ "

Merlin sighed and slowly stood up. Merlin could not just lay around in pain, he had to help Arthur in Gwen. Merlin picked his sword up and started to walk as fast as he could without upsetting his cut chest too much. Merlin weaved around bodies of fallen soldiers and turned to see Morgana holding a dagger above an injured Gwen, ready to kill the queen. Arthur was nowhere to be seen and Gwen was leaning against a wall of rubble and debris. Merlin readied his sword and ran Morgana with his sword aimed at her abdomen, yelling as the blade made contact with her flesh.

* * *

"Arthur!" Gwen yelled, hitting the wall that had been made when the castle started shaking. "Arthur, _please_!"

"He can't hear you." A voice said behind her.

Gwen stiffened and gripped her sword tightly. She turned around and saw Morgana smirking at her. Morgana spoke coolly, "Hello, my lady."

Gwen pointed her sword at Morgana's chest, "Leave now Morgana, there is nothing here for you. You have lost."

"I haven't lost if I'm still alive." Morgana says, walking closer to Gwen. "There is still hope for me to get what's rightfully mine."

"It is not rightfully yours." Gwen says. "You may have been an heir, but Arthur is the true king because _both_ his parents ruled Camelot. Not just his father."

"Uther is _not_ my father!" Morgana shouts and uses her magic to knock Gwen against the wall of debris.

Gwen hits her head against a rock and is dazed as her sword falls from her hand and she slides down to the ground, unable to move. Gwen can barely focus on Morgana as she pulls out a dagger, the same dagger Arthur got her for her birthday all those years ago. Morgana walks forward and just as Morgana raises the blade to bring it to Gwen's flesh, there is a yell and Morgana stiffens as a sword slices through her side.

Morgana drops the knife, and Gwen barely rolls of the way of the blade. Gwen turns to see that Merlin is the one that saved her life, but he looks sickly pale and in pain. Merlin takes the blade out of Morgana's side and stumbles, catching himself on the wall. Gwen sees that Merlin has a cut on his chest, and it doesn't look good at all. Morgana looks at Merlin with very much pain evident in her eyes, but it does not look like she is going to die anytime soon.

Morgana shouts and Merlin flies to the side and hits his shoulder on the wall, most likely breaking it. Merlin crumples on the ground, seeming unconscious, but Gwen can see that he is just in too much pain to move. Morgana, however, must think the opposite, because she spins around, smiling at Gwen.

"Give me a moment, my lady." Morgana smiles. Morgana turns back to Merlin, her dagger flying back into her hand, and throws it at Merlin.

All Gwen can do is scream, " _NO!_ "

* * *

Arthur bursts through the doors of the throne room, his sword ready in case Merlin was still fighting the guards. Arthur didn't see Merlin, just bodies of dead guards. Arthur ran towards the direction he ran to just a few minutes ago, but stopped when he saw a blood stain. It was too far away from the bodies to belong to one of the guards. _It must be Merlin's_ , Arthur thought. Arthur straightens and runs faster to where he left Guinevere, and where Merlin and Morgana must be.

Arthur sees a body dressed in all black, but not one of Morgana's guards, curled up on the ground. Then Morgana comes into view, a dagger appearing in her hands, Arthur runs even faster. Morgana points the knife at Merlin and throws it at him. Arthur yells as he swings his sword in front of Merlin, deflecting the knife. The knife bounces from Arthur's sword and buries itself in Morgana's chest. Morgana falls to the ground, motionless. Arthur sees Guinevere and runs over to her.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asks, holding Guinevere's hands in his.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Guinevere says. "It's Merlin that needs help."

Arthur lets go of Guinevere's hands and turns around, stopping for a second when he sees that Morgana is nowhere to be seen. Arthur is shaken back to his senses when Guinevere pulls him to Merlin. Arthur gently rolls Merlin over so he is facing them.

Arthur slightly shakes him, "Merlin…"

Merlin blinks a couple of times and looks up at Arthur and Guinevere. He mumbles, "Arthur?"

"Yes, Merlin." Arthur says.

"I think the Guardian of Camelot is going to need a day off." Merlin says.

Arthur and Guinevere chuckle, and Arthur says, "I'll let the Guardian have two days off."

"That's generous." Merlin chuckles.

"It's a victory gift." Arthur says with pride in his voice. Pride for Camelot and for Merlin.


	14. Ending

**Two Months Later**

Merlin wakes in his room, the pain in his chest and arm almost completely gone after healing. The reason he couldn't heal the cut on his chest was because his sword was forged in the breath of two dragons and was stronger than his magic, so he could not heal it. Merlin had to wait for his arm and chest to heal on their own, and today was the day he officially went back to his duties as Master of the Horse. Arthur was feeling generous and said that he would simply have someone take care of Merlin's responsibilities until he was healthy again. After one month, Merlin's mother had to leave to help with Ealdor's crops or the village could starve. Merlin learned soon after his mother left that Aldred and his wife had died during the battle and Sophia's older brother took the throne, promising peace with Camelot for as long as he lives. Merlin quickly dresses into a red tunic and brown trousers and walks out into Gaius' chambers, where he sees Gaius setting down a bowl of gruel and biscuits.

Gaius looks up when he hears Merlin's door open and smiles. "Good, you're awake. Sit and eat breakfast before you leave."

"I have to go." Merlin says.

"I'm sure Arthur will understand if you are a little late. He's waited two months, I'm sure he can wait another hour or so." Gaius says. "I also need to talk to you about something important."

"Alright." Merlin says and sits down.

Merlin eats an entire biscuit whole and eats a spoonful of gruel. As Merlin eats, Gaius walks up the stairs and moves things around on the balcony. Merlin takes a bite of the second biscuit and watches as Gaius opens a box and takes out two small metallic objects and makes his way carefully back down the stairs. Gaius sits down at the table across from Merlin and puts the two metallic objects on the table in front of Merlin. Putting his spoon down into the now empty bowl of gruel, Merlin sees that the small objects are large coins that have the symbols on both sides, symbols that Merlin does not understand.

Gaius says, "These are coins of reincarnation. They were created by the high priestesses to bring life to those who have died. I got these from performing favors for their creators. I want to give them to you."

Merlin looked up at Gaius in surprise, "I can't take these from you."

"You're not." Gaius says. "I'm giving them to you."

"I can't accept them, you were the one that earned them."

"Merlin, please. You have earned them more than I have. You sacrificed so much to save innocent lives. Innocent lives of those that would seek to harm if they knew who you were before the Guardian of Camelot arrived."

"I wouldn't even know what do with them, or who I would use them for."

"Merlin, please. For once, use these for yourself. Who do you want to bring back?"

Merlin doesn't answer and Gaius stands and grabs his medical satchel. At the door, Gaius says, "I must see some patients. When you want to use the coins, go to the Lake of Avalon and throw one in and speak the name of the person you want to bring back, then do the same for the other."

"Gaius…" Merlin says looking up from the coins.

Gaius turns to look at him, "Yes?"

Merlin smiles, "Thank you."

* * *

Merlin walks through the castle and up to Arthur's chambers, the coins of reincarnation in his pocket, and opens the door. Arthur is eating and Gwen is having her hair put into its usual style by her maid servant. Arthur and Gwen, nor the maidservant, notice Merlin is there until Merlin closes the door behind him. Gwen and her servant turned, Gwen beaming when he saw Merlin, and Arthur looks up slightly, but he stands up quickly when he sees that Merlin is the one that walked inside.

"Merlin, you should be resting." Arthur says.

Merlin shakes his head, "No, I'm fine. Gaius says I'm healed enough to get back to work. I just thought I might check on you and Gwen first."

"It is not us you should be worried about." Arthur says. "Just be careful today."

"Arthur, I just walk around and look at horses all day. And I have to go to a lake today to…" Merlin trails off, Arthur and Gwen giving him strange looks. Merlin clears his throat, "To do something beneficial to us all."

Arthur sits back down, "I don't want to know what you are doing, but don't do anything stupid like you usually do."

Arthur starts eating again and Merlin smiles, saying, "Of course not, sire."

* * *

Merlin steps from his horse, the coins of reincarnation are in his hand now. Merlin approaches the Lake of Avalon, knowing that his first lover's spirit is watching him, the lake is her home after all. Merlin takes off his shoes and steps into the Lake of Avalon, walking until the water is up to his ankles. Merlin puts one of the coins into his other hand and throws the coin as far as he can into the lake, and watches as the coin flies in arch high above the water and crashes through the surface, slowly sinking into the Lake of Avalon. Merlin closed his eyes and thought of an old friend of his that was lost a long time ago because of Morgana's attempt to destroy Camelot.

Merlin opened his eyes and said, "Sir Lancelot of Camelot."

Merlin opened his eyes and watched as the surface of the Lake of Avalon broke and a man with brown hair, a dark skin tone, and dressed in the armor of the Knights of Camelot appeared in the lake. Merlin grinned and shouted at his old friend, waving his arms in the air to get his attention. Lancelot looked confused but swam over to Merlin, nonetheless. When Lancelot is no longer in the water, Merlin looks up and down at Lancelot, grinning.

"Merlin," Lancelot says looking around at the place around them and back at Merlin. "What happened? I was dead."

"I know, I brought you back through a gift Gaius gave me." Merlin says.

"You should not have done that Merlin. You should have done it for someone more important to you than me." Lancelot says.

"You are important to me." Merlin says, then he takes the other coin of reincarnation. "Besides, I've got another one."

Lancelot looks at the coin, "And who will you use this coin for."

Merlin thinks hard for a moment and says, "My wife."

Lancelot looks up in surprise, but does not say anything. Merlin smiles, "There's a lot you've missed."

As Merlin walked back into the Lake of Avalon to his ankles, he heard Lancelot quietly say, "Apparently so."

Merlin thought of Sophia's face, her smile, eyes. Merlin looked at the coin one last time, and threw it like he did with the coin he used for Lancelot. The coin went under the water and spoke her name, "Princess Sophia of the Kingdom of Dacia."

The surface of the water broke and a woman with black hair, chocolate eyes, and wearing the dress she died in during the wedding. Merlin called her name and got her attention to swim over to Merlin and Lancelot. When she was close, Merlin pulled Sophia onto the dry land and into his arms.

"Merlin." She whispers into his chest. "I thought I died."

"You did, but I brought you back." Merlin says.

Sophia says, "Thank you."

Merlin turns to Lancelot with a smile, "See, she doesn't complain about getting gifts."

Sophia looks at Lancelot and says, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you. My name is Sophia."

"Sir Lancelot." Lancelot says, bowing his head.

"My name is Sophia. I'm the Princess of Dacia." Sophia says.

Lancelot looks at Merlin, "Married to a princess? You are certainly moving up in the world."

"Well, we were not married yet." Merlin says turning to Sophia. "But that could change soon."

* * *

"Today we celebrate the marriage of Princess Sophia of Dacia, and Camelot's Master of the Horse, Merlin." Geoffrey says reading from his book. Geoffrey turns to Merlin, "Do you, Merlin, vow to be faithful, loyal, and loving to Sophia until the day you die?"

Merlin looks into Sophia's eyes, "I vow to do so."

Geoffrey turns from Merlin to Sophia, "Do you, Princess Sophia, vow to be faithful, loyal, and loving to Merlin until the day you die?"

Sophia smiles widely at Merlin and says, "I vow to do so."

Geoffrey turns back to his book, "Then by the sacred law vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife."

Geoffrey took a step back as Merlin and Sophia's lips met. When they parted, Henry, Sophia's brother and the King of Dacia, stepped forward and took Geoffrey's spot between Merlin and Sophia. Sophia backed away and Merlin kneeled in front of Henry. A servant of Dacia walked next to Henry, handing him a crown that belonged to a prince, but the not a prince that was the heir to the throne. The Crowned Prince of Dacia was Henry's son, James. Henry held the crown above Merlin's head and Merlin looked at the wooden floor.

"Through marriage to the Princess Sophia, you have become part of the royal family." Henry starts. "With the sacred law vested in me, I name you Merlin, Prince of Dacia."

The crown was placed upon Merlin's head and the crowd behind Merlin applauded for the ceremonies. Both the wedding and the crowning ceremony. Merlin rose from his feet and took Sophia's hands in his, staring at the woman that was now his happiness and love. Perhaps there would be peace in Camelot now.

 **The End**

 **This is the end of the book, but I will be writing a sequel to it sometime soon. I'll try to post it as soon as I can.**


	15. Sequel

**Hey guys, the sequel to The Guardian of Camelot is here. The sequel is called Rise of the Guardian of Camelot. Hope you enjoy reading it.**


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